Steve Kerr: The Greatest NBA Career Of All-Time
Steve Kerr has the most underrated NBA career of all-time and it’s not even close to being over yet. This seems like a long stretch of a statement to the casual fans, but Steve has been a winning figure in the basketball world for almost 30 years now.
Steve Kerr was drafted with the 20th pick in the 2nd-round of the 1988 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. After one year with the franchise, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a 1993 second-round pick. It was here in Cleveland where Kerr would get his first sample of the Michael Jordan takeover as the Bulls would take down the Cavs on several occasions in the playoffs.
Kerr would spend three and a half seasons with Cleveland before being traded to the Orlando Magic during the 1992–93 season. He would finish out the season with the Magic and sign with the Chicago Bulls in free agency, the year that Jordan decided he was going to play baseball instead of basketball.
Steve would play the most minutes of his career during Jordan’s two year hiatus from the NBA, helping him become a quality player in the league. When Michael decided to come back, Steve played a big part in helping the Bulls win three straight championships, also known as a three-peat. The 1995–96 season for the Bulls is known to be the best season for any team in NBA history, accomplishing a 72–10 regular season record that was capped off with a championship in Michael’s first full season back in the league.
After the team’s sudden breakup after the 1998 season, Steve made his way over to the San Antonio Spurs with a fresh Tim Duncan, fresh Gregg Popovich, and a 34-year old David Robinson. The Duncan-Popovich-Spurs dynasty would officially be in motion as they would win their first championship in franchise history in 1999. From there, Steve would play two more seasons with the Spurs, was then traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2001–02 season, then was traded back to San Antonio where he would cap off his successful NBA playing career with a championship.
After his retirement, Kerr would sign a contract with Turner Network Television, also known as TNT. He would become a commentator and work alongside Hall of Fame commentator Marv Albert. The stint would only last for one year until he became apart of a group of buyers that would buy the Phoenix Suns from Jerry Colangelo for $300 million. Steve would become apart of the Suns management group, acting as a consultant.
After three seasons up in the office, Kerr became the general manager of the franchise. After a series of moves that indicated that the Suns were heading towards rebuild mode, he would eventually step down as GM and president of the franchise in 2010 and return to TNT as a color commentator until 2014. Steve still owned a one percent share of the organization until 2014.
In 2014, Steve would succeed Mark Jackson as head coach of the Golden State Warriors and quickly rise to become one of the best head coaches in recent memory.
In his first season as head coach, Kerr would guide the young Warriors team, led by upcoming superstar Stephen Curry, to their first championship. This was the first year of a five year Finals run, winning the title in three out of the five trips. One of those seasons included a 73–9 regular season record, succeeding Kerr’s 1995–96 Bulls team that went 72–10. Steve became the first coach in NBA history to guide his team to 67 regular season wins in three consecutive seasons.
At the end of 2021, Steve Kerr was named 2022–24 USA Basketball Men’s National Team head coach, succeeding Mike Krzyzewski and Gregg Popovich. Steve’s long resume of success has allowed him the opportunity to take after two of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.
So to sum up Steve Kerr’s time involved in the NBA, he:
- Played on the Chicago Bulls alongside Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman under Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, became apart of the greatest team in NBA history with a 72–10 record, accomplished a three-peat with the franchise
- Went to the San Antonio Spurs following the three-peat, playing alongside Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili under Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich, winning two titles with the team, becoming the only player in NBA history to this day to win four straight NBA championships
- Became a commentator the first year after retirement for one year, sitting alongside Hall of Fame commentator Marv Albert
- Became part-owner of the Phoenix Suns, starting as a consultant, then eventually became the General Manager of a team that had two-time MVP Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire under head coach Mike D’Antoni
- Returned to commentating on TNT for four years after stepping down as Suns GM and president
- Announced as head coach of the Golden State Warriors, coaching future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, leading them to three titles in a five-year title run, beating out his old Bulls team for the greatest regualr season team in NBA history with a 73–9 record
- Chosen to succeed Coack K and Coach Pop as the head coach of Team USA for 2022 and 2024
Absolutely unmatched resume. The greatest NBA career of all-time belongs to none other than Steve Kerr.
