Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr

Medal record
Representing United States
World Championships
	1986 Spain	National team

Stephen Douglas "Steve" Kerr (born September 27, 1965 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was the most accurate three-point shooter in National Basketball Association history upon his retirement in 2003. Kerr is a five-time NBA champion.

On June 2, 2007, the Phoenix Suns named Steve Kerr as the team's President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. Kerr, an original partner in Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver's 2004 purchase of the franchise, helped facilitate Sarver's opportunity to buy the Suns, has been one of Sarver's trusted advisors in basketball decisions over the past three years.

Early life

As the son of Malcolm Kerr, an American academic who specialized in the Middle East, Kerr spent much of his childhood in Lebanon and other Arab states, such as Egypt where he attended Cairo American College. He attended Palisades High School (now Palisades Charter High School) in Pacific Palisades, California. On January 18 1984, Kerr's father, who was then serving as president of the American University of Beirut, was assassinated by suspected militant nationalists in Beirut.

Basketball-playing career

Kerr was barely recruited out of high school because he couldn't jump and was two steps slower than other point guards. [1] Kerr played college basketball for the University of Arizona from 1983 to 1988. In the summer of 1986, Kerr was named to the USA Basketball team that competed in the FIBA World Championship in Spain. The team became the last American Men's Senior Team composed strictly of amateur players to capture a gold medal. Kerr injured his knee during the tournament, forcing him to miss an entire season (1986-87) at Arizona. After returning to the team, Kerr helped the Wildcats reach the Final Four of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament in 1988, along with future NBA teammate Sean Elliott.

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 to 1992) there, and then part of the 1992-93 season with the Orlando Magic. In 1993, he signed with the Chicago Bulls. During the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, the perennial Bulls continued to make the playoffs. Without Michael Jordan's presence for all of 1994 and much of 1995, though, they could not advance to the Finals. However, with Jordan back full time for the 1995-96 season, the Bulls went 72-10 and defeated the Seattle SuperSonics for the NBA championship, allowing Kerr to be a part of the team that currently holds the record for most wins in a season.

Kerr played a major part of the Bulls' 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 Michael Jordan and hit the game-clinching shot. The Bulls would eventually win the game and earn back-to-back championships for the first time in four seasons. Kerr also won the 3-Point Shootout at the 1997 All-Star Game. Kerr also had a significant role in the 1998 Finals series against Utah: in the last minute of Game 2, he missed a three-pointer, but grabbed his own rebound and laid it to Michael Jordan who scored an easy lay-up. The play helped Chicago win this game and even the series at 1-1. The Bulls would eventually win the series in six games.

During the 1998 off-season, Kerr was traded to the San Antonio Spurs, where he would spend the rest of his career, save for the 2001-2002 season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Spurs made it to the Finals for the first time 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 the only non-Boston Celtic to win four straight NBA titles.

In the 2003 playoffs, Kerr made key contributions in Game Six of the Spurs' Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks. Among those were four clutch three-pointers that helped to eliminate the Mavericks. The Spurs eventually won the NBA championship that year by beating the New Jersey Nets in a six-game Finals series, led by Kerr, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, among others.

Kerr ended his career as a dependable bench player who was capable of making jump shots and three-pointers during the game's most critical moments. Even when he was with the Chicago Bulls, and both he and Michael Jordan were on the floor at the same time, when a free throw had to be taken due to a technical foul, Kerr was the one usually to be found taking the shot. That was a true testament to Kerr's pinpoint accuracy, and an example of why he remained a key substitute even with the Spurs until 2003.

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).

Post-playing career

NBA analyst

From 2003 to 2007, Kerr was 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. 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 game NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07, NBA Live 08 and NBA Live 09.

General manager position with the Suns

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.

On June 2, 2007, Kerr officially 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. He replaced Bryan Colangelo.

On Feb 6, 2008, reports surfaced that Kerr was planning to trade multi-talented Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat in exchange for waning superstar Shaquille O'Neal, which he did. This deal proved unsuccessful during its first season, with the Suns being eliminated by the Spurs in five games in the first round of the playoffs. The future impact of this trade remains to be seen. On December 10, 2008, Kerr continued to destroy the chemistry of the Suns roster by trading away fan favourites Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, as well as Sean Singletary to the Charlotte Bobcats for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley, a fringe NBA player, as well as the Charlotte Bobcats 2010 Second Round Draft Pick. . A move which further alienated Steve Nash and infuriated Suns fans world wide.

Coinciding careers

Steve Kerr and Robert Horry, another famous reserve player and clutch shooter, alternated NBA Championships for a decade, and combined to win 12 championships over a 14-year period. Either Kerr or Horry was on the roster of an NBA Finals team from the 1993–1994 season through the 2004–2005 season, with nearly every one resulting in a victory. The only exception is the 2004 NBA Finals, which resulted in a loss of Horry's Los Angeles Lakers. Horry's teams were victorious in the NBA Finals in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007, while Kerr's teams were winners in the NBA Finals in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003. Each won three titles playing for Phil Jackson-coached teams and two with the Gregg Popovich-led San Antonio Spurs.

External links

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