Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr

Kerr as Warriors head coach in February 2015
Golden State Warriors
Position Head coach
League NBA
Personal information
Born September 27, 1965
Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school Palisades Charter
(Los Angeles, California)
College Arizona (1983–1988)
NBA draft 1988 / Round: 2 / Pick: 50th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Pro career 1988–2003
Position Guard
Number 2, 4, 5, 25
Coaching career 2014–present
Career history
As player:
1988–1989 Phoenix Suns
19891992 Cleveland Cavaliers
1992–1993 Orlando Magic
19931998 Chicago Bulls
19992001 San Antonio Spurs
2001–2002 Portland Trail Blazers
2002–2003 San Antonio Spurs
As coach:
2014–present Golden State Warriors
Career highlights and awards
As player
As coach
Career statistics
Points 5,437 (6.0 ppg)
Rebounds 1,060 (1.2 rpg)
Assists 1,658 (1.8 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Stephen Douglas "Steve" Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Golden State Warriors.[1] Kerr is a 5-time NBA champion, winning three championships with the Chicago Bulls and two with the San Antonio Spurs. He and Frank Saul are the only two players in NBA history to have won championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons.[2] Kerr shot 45.4% from 3-point range over his career which is the highest in NBA history for any player with at least 2,000 shot attempts.

On June 2, 2007, the Phoenix Suns named Kerr the team's President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. Kerr helped Managing Partner Robert Sarver buy the Suns in 2004 and became one of Sarver's trusted basketball advisors. Kerr announced his retirement from the Suns in June 2010. Afterwards, Kerr returned as a color commentator for NBA on TNT until 2014 when he pursued a career in coaching.

On May 14, 2014, the Golden State Warriors named Kerr the team's head coach. On April 4, 2015, with a win over the Dallas Mavericks, Kerr broke the NBA record for the most regular season wins for a rookie coach. Kerr was widely considered the favorite to win the 2015 NBA Coach of the Year but lost to Mike Budenholzer.

Early life

The son of Malcolm Kerr, an American academic who specialized in the Middle East, Kerr spent much of his childhood in Lebanon and other Middle East countries. He attended Cairo American College in Egypt and Palisades High School (now Palisades Charter High School) in Pacific Palisades, California. On January 18, 1984, Malcolm, who was then serving as president of the American University of Beirut, was assassinated by the predecessor to Lebanese Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, in Beirut for which the late AUB president's family filed legal papers against the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2003.

Basketball career

NCAA career

Minimally recruited out of high school, Kerr played basketball for the University of Arizona from 1983 to 1988. In the summer 1986, Kerr was named to the USA Basketball team that competed in the FIBA World Championship in Spain. The team was the last American Men's Senior Team composed strictly of amateur players to capture a gold medal. He injured his knee in the tournament, forcing him to miss an entire season (1986–87) at Arizona. After returning to the team, Kerr became a fan favorite due to his leadership and long-range shooting. He helped the Wildcats reach the Final Four of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament in 1988, along with future NBA teammate Sean Elliott, future NBA journeyman Tom Tolbert, and future MLB All-Star Kenny Lofton. He also set an NCAA record for 3-point percentage in a season (114-199, 57.3%).

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1983-84 Arizona 28 ... 22.6 .516 ... .692 1.2 1.3 0.3 0.0 7.1
1984-85 Arizona 31 ... 33.4 .568 ... .803 2.4 4.0 0.6 0.1 10.0
1985-86 Arizona 32 ... 38.4 .540 ... .899 3.2 4.2 1.6 0.0 14.4
1986-87 Arizona Redshirt ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
1987-88 Arizona 38 ... 32.6 .559 .573 .824 2.0 3.9 1.2 0.1 12.6
Career[3] ... 129 ... 32.1 .548 .573 .815 2.2 3.4 1.0 0.1 11.2

NBA career

Kerr was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the 1988 NBA draft, but was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989. He spent over three seasons (1989–92) there, and then part of the 1992–93 season with the Orlando Magic. In 1993, he signed with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls made the playoffs in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, but without Michael Jordan's presence for all of 1994 and much of 1995, the team could not advance to the Finals. However, with Jordan back full-time for the 1995–96 season, the Bulls set an NBA-record of 72–10 and defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals.

Kerr played a major part of the Bulls' championship victory in the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. In the final seconds of Game 6 with the score tied at 86, he took a pass from Jordan and hit the game-winner. The Bulls won, earning the franchise's fifth title. Kerr also won the 3-Point Shootout at the 1997 All-Star Game. He was number 25 and a major part of Michael Jordan's wins.

In the last minute of Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals against Utah, Kerr missed a 3-pointer, grabbed his own rebound and made a no-look pass while in midair to Michael Jordan who made a crucial three-point play, putting them in the lead for good. The play helped Chicago win the game and tie the series at 1. The Bulls won the series in 6 games.

During the 1998 off-season, Kerr was traded to the San Antonio Spurs, where he spent the rest of his career, except for the 2001–02 season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Spurs made it to the 1999 NBA Finals. It was their first finals appearance in their history, and Kerr won his fourth ring in a row when the Spurs beat the New York Knicks for the 1999 NBA championship. He is one of 2 people to win four straight NBA titles without being a part of the 1960s Boston Celtics dynasty (the other is Frank Saul, who won four straight with Rochester and Minneapolis from 1951–54).

Kerr made key contributions in Game 6 of the 2003 Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Among those were four clutch 3-pointers that helped eliminate Dallas. The Spurs eventually won the NBA championship that year by beating the New Jersey Nets in the 2003 NBA Finals 4-2.

Kerr ended his career as a dependable bench player who could make jump shots and 3-pointers in critical moments.

Kerr announced his retirement after the 2003 NBA Finals. He played 910 regular season games but started only 30, 20 of them in the 1991–92 season. His career totals are: 5,437 points (6 ppg), 1,060 rebounds (1.2 rpg), and 1,658 assists (1.8 apg). He also retired as the league's all-time leader in three-point shooting percentage for a season (.524 in 1994-95) and career (.454).

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1988-89 Phoenix 26 0 6.0 .435 .471 .667 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.0 5.1
1989-90 Cleveland 78 5 21.3 .444 .507 .863 1.3 3.2 0.6 0.1 6.7
1990-91 Cleveland 57 4 15.9 .444 .452 .849 0.6 2.3 0.5 0.1 4.8
1991-92 Cleveland 48 20 17.6 .511 .432 .833 1.6 2.3 0.6 0.2 6.6
1992-93 Cleveland / Orlando 52 0 9.3 .434 .231 .917 0.9 1.3 0.2 0.0 2.6
1993-94 Chicago 82 0 24.8 .497 .419 .856 1.6 2.6 0.9 0.0 8.6
1994-95 Chicago 82 0 22.4 .527 .524 .778 1.5 1.8 0.5 0.0 8.2
1995–96 Chicago 82 0 23.4 .506 .515 .929 1.3 2.3 0.8 0.0 8.4
1996–97 Chicago 82 0 22.7 .533 .464 .806 1.6 2.1 0.8 0.0 8.1
1997–98 Chicago 50 0 22.4 .454 .438 .918 1.5 1.9 0.5 0.1 7.5
1998–99 San Antonio 44 0 16.7 .391 .313 .886 1.0 1.1 0.5 0.1 4.4
1999-00 San Antonio 32 0 8.4 .432 .516 .818 0.6 0.4 0.1 0.0 2.8
2000-01 San Antonio 55 1 11.8 .421 .429 .933 0.6 1.0 0.3 0.0 3.3
2001-02 Portland 65 0 11.9 .470 .394 .975 0.9 1.0 0.2 0.0 4.1
2002–03 San Antonio 75 0 12.7 .430 .395 .882 0.8 0.9 0.4 0.0 4.0
Career[3] ... 910 30 17.8 .479 .454 .864 1.2 1.8 0.5 0.1 6.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1989-90 Cleveland 5 0 14.6 .286 .000 ... 1.2 2.0 0.8 0.0 1.6
1991-92 Cleveland 12 3 12.4 .439 .273 1.000 0.5 0.8 0.4 0.0 3.7
1993-94 Chicago 10 0 18.6 .361 .375 1.000 1.4 1.0 0.7 0.0 3.5
1994-95 Chicago 10 0 19.3 .475 .421 1.000 0.6 1.5 0.1 0.0 5.1
1995–96 Chicago 18 0 19.8 .448 .321 .871 1.0 1.7 0.8 0.0 6.1
1996–97 Chicago 19 0 17.9 .429 .381 .929 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.1 5.1
1997–98 Chicago 21 0 19.8 .434 .463 .818 0.8 1.7 0.3 0.0 4.9
1998–99 San Antonio 11 0 8.8 .267 .231 .833 0.8 0.7 0.2 0.0 2.2
2000-01 San Antonio 9 0 11.2 .480 .333 .500 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.1 3.3
2001-02 Portland 3 0 13.0 .429 .250 1.000 1.3 1.7 0.3 0.0 6.3
2002–03 San Antonio 10 0 4.6 .636 .833 .750 0.3 0.6 0.1 0.0 2.2
Career[3] ... 128 0 15.6 .426 .370 .876 0.9 1.2 0.5 0.0 4.3

Post-playing career

Television analyst

Kerr in 2013

In 2003, Kerr became a broadcast analyst for Turner Network Television (TNT), offering commentary alongside renowned analyst Marv Albert. During his tenure he performed a segment sponsored by Coors Light called Steve's Refreshing Thoughts in which he brought up interesting facts in NBA history. This segment continued through sponsorship, and is now known as Steve Wonders and is sponsored by Sprint. In the same time period, Kerr also contributed to Yahoo! as an NBA commentator.

He has provided his voice for the in-game commentary of EA Sports video games NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07, NBA Live 08, NBA Live 09 and NBA Live 10 with Albert. He has also provided his voice as a color analyst for NBA 2K12, NBA 2K13, NBA 2K14 and NBA 2K15. He remains a commentator in NBA 2K15 despite becoming the Golden State Warriors coach for the 2014-15 season several months prior to the game's release.

Kerr left broadcasting in 2007 to work as a general manager for the Phoenix Suns, but it was confirmed on June 28, 2010 that he would return as an NBA analyst for TNT starting with the 2010-11 NBA season. Since 2011, Kerr has also called the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship on Turner Sports and CBS, teaming up with lead broadcasters Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg for the First Four and Final Four games, and with Albert in other rounds.

Kerr has been a regular contributor to the website Grantland since 2011.

Phoenix Suns front office

On April 15, 2004, Kerr was announced as a member of a potential group of buyers that would acquire his old team, the Suns, from Jerry Colangelo for US$300 million. He became part of Suns management, acting as a consultant.[4][5]

On June 2, 2007, Kerr announced his departure from his broadcasting position at TNT and his commentating position at Yahoo! to assume duties as the general manager of the Phoenix Suns beginning with the 2007–2008 season.

Kerr in 2008

On Feb 6, 2008, reports surfaced that Kerr was planning to trade Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal, which he did. The Suns were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

On December 10, 2008, Kerr continued to remake the Suns roster by trading away Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and Sean Singletary to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, and the Charlotte Bobcats 2010 Second Round draft pick.[6]

On June 25, 2009, Kerr decided to trade the 6th all time leading scorer, Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a future second-round draft pick and cash.

On May 5, 2010, the Suns wore Los Suns jerseys in Game 2 against the Spurs as to be united against the controversial Arizona immigration law. Kerr himself compared the law to Nazi Germany.[7]

On June 15, 2010, Kerr stepped down as President and GM of the Suns. Despite stepping down, Kerr still owned a 1% share with the Suns organization that he kept until 2014.

Head coaching career

Golden State Warriors (2014–present)

On May 14, 2014, Kerr reached an agreement to become the head coach for the Golden State Warriors.[8][9] Kerr coached in the 2014 Summer League for the Warriors. During the 2014–15 season, the team's offense employed elements of the triangle offense from his playing days in Chicago under Phil Jackson, the spacing and pace of Greg Popovich in San Antonio, and the uptempo principles Alvin Gentry used in Phoenix when Kerr was the GM.[10] After the Warriors won their 14th consecutive victory over the Houston Rockets, it was announced on twitter that Kerr became the first coach to start his career with a 19-2 record. This beat out Al Cervi and his 18-2 start with the Syracuse Nationals. On December 10, 2014 Kerr became the first NBA rookie head coach to win 21 of his first 23 games.[11] Kerr was named the head coach of the Western Conference team for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game after Golden State had the best record in the conference.[12] On April 4, the Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 123-110 to clinch home court advantage throughout the playoffs and Kerr got his 63rd win of the season to become the winningest rookie head coach in NBA history, passing Tom Thibodeau and his 62 wins with the Chicago Bulls in the 2010-11 season. In the NBA Coach of the Year voting, Kerr was runner up to Mike Budenholzer. At season's end, Kerr lead the Warriors to one of the best seasons in NBA history. Golden State ended with an overall record of 67-15, becoming the 10th team to win 67 or more games in a single season. The Warriors also ended with a 39-2 home record, which is the tied for the 2nd best home record in NBA history. The Warriors were first in defensive efficiency for the season and second in offensive efficiency, barely missing the mark that the Julius Erving led Sixers achieved by being first in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They became the first team in NBA history to have two win streaks over 15 at home (18 and 19) and broke a franchise record with 67 wins. In the opening round of the playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans, Kerr led the Warriors to their first four-game playoff sweep since the 1975 NBA Finals.

Coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %
Post season PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win-loss %
TeamYearGWLWL%FinishPGPWPLPWL%Result
GSW 2014–15 826715.817 1st in West 4401.000Conf. Semis
Career 826715.817 4401.000

References

  1. NBA Stats - Home
  2. Hudson, Jr., David L. (February 2007). Basketball Championships' Most Wanted. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 41. ISBN 1-59797-014-X.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Steve Kerr, basketball-reference.com, accessed 20 March 2010.
  4. SUNS: Steve Kerr Bio
  5. SUNS: Phoenix Suns Staff Directory
  6. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/12/10/suns.bobcats.trade.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "Phoenix to wear 'Los Suns' jerseys for Game 2 vs. Spurs". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  8. Warriors Reach Agreement in Principle for Steve Kerr to Become Team’s Head Coach | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
  9. Steve Kerr accepts Golden State Warriors' coaching position - ESPN
  10. Gonzalez, Antonio (February 10, 2015). "Kerr coming to New York as an All-Star coach with Warriors". SFGate.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015.
  11. "Steve Kerr to coach West All-Stars". www.espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 February 2015.

External links

Preceded by
Mike D'Antoni
Phoenix Suns General Manager
2007-2010
Succeeded by
Lance Blanks