You can’t write the history of the NBA without Steve Kerr’s name on it. He’s a winner, but he wasn’t born like that, he had to work his heart off in the gym for every single minute of playing time, even far before making it to the NBA.
Kerr has been around almost every single major event in the NBA since the 1990s and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to go anywhere any time soon, as he put together the most dominating dynasty of the past decade with the Golden State Warriors.
Steve has always been surrounded by greatness. We know that, but how’s exactly that? Let’s break it down and go through his playing career and his locker room teammates, and then take a look at the guys he’s coached since taking over the Warriors:
Steve Kerr As A Player
Steve Kerr made it to the league as the 50th overall pick of the 1988 NBA Draft after 5 years at the University of Arizona. He was drafted by the Suns and later traded to the Cavaliers, where he started making a name for himself.
The Cavs, however, also traded him to the Orlando Magic towards the end of the 1992-93 season and that’s when things took a major turn for him. Jerry Krause knew that the Bulls were craving a three-point shooting specialist so he signed Steve Kerr as a free agent in 1992 and the rest, as you may know by now, it’s history.
Kerr played a major role in the Bulls’ second three-peat and his relentless work ethic granted him a great reputation in the league. So, following Michael Jordan’s second retirement, Gregg Popovich brought him to help fuel the rising dynasty of the San Antonio Spurs.
Next to Tim Duncan and David Robinson, Kerr won his fourth straight NBA Championship (the first player to do it since Bill Russell and the Celtics). He was later traded to the Blazers but eventually came back to San Antonio, just to win another Championship before retiring.
So, Kerr retired with the highest three-point shooting percentage ever (45.4%), 5 Championships under his belt, and some of the greatest teammates this game has ever seen.
Steve Kerr played with: Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Shaq O’Neal, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Tony Parker, Robert Parish, Shawn Kemp, Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Horace Grant, Rasheed Wallace, Larry Nance, Steven Smith, Stephen Jackson, Mark Price
Steve Kerr As A Coach
Steve Kerr then pursued a career as an analyst and commentator before joining the Phoenix Suns as president and general manager. He stepped down in 2010 and continued to hold a 1% share on the team.
Kerr flew under the radar for a couple of years before he was one of the frontrunners to land the New York Knicks’ coaching job. He was reportedly pretty close to joining Phil Jackson and taking the job, but eventually declined it to coach the Golden State Warriors.
Needless to say, that was Kerr’s best decision ever, as he could’ve had the same start to his coaching career than Derek Fisher, who was fired from the Knicks just a couple of seasons later.
Kerr’s motion, run-and-gun, fast-paced offense took the league by storm. He took the Splash Brothers to a whole new level, brought in a couple of veterans, and put together the most dominating team the league had seen in ages.
He even led the Warriors to break the Bulls record for most regular-season wins (73-9) and took them to 5 NBA Finals, winning three of them. However, it’s fair to acknowledge that he’s had some incredible talents under his wing, as we’ll show you right now.
Steve Kerr has coached: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, DeMarcus Cousins, D’Angelo Russell, Andrew Wiggins, Harrison Barnes, Shaun Livingston, Andrew Bogut, David West, David Lee, Leandro Barbosa, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia
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