Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr does not support sports specialization.
In an era when young athletes are consistently forced to pick one sport or one area of focus, Kerr emphasizes that young basketball players should also play soccer:
.@warriors head coach @SteveKerr says that if he was head of American basketball, he would have all players start on the football pitch.
The Men in Blazers Steve Kerr Special airs TODAY after #LIVMCI at 3pm ET on NBCSN. @NBCSportsSoccer @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/1iyMHBlZOW
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) November 10, 2019
Kerr emphasized that soccer promotes the very essence of teamwork and passing, something that he feels has become a lost art in the modern, isolation-based style of offense in the NBA (transcript via Rob Goldberg of Bleacher Report):
“If I were the czar of American basketball and I had to say, ‘all right, I'm in charge of youth basketball in America,'” I would make every player coming through the youth basketball program play football because it translates directly. The problem in basketball today [is] the young players are coming up and they just try to beat everybody one-on-one with the dribble. They're unbelievably gifted dribbling the ball, but they don't understand the pass and the move. Which is what football would teach them.”
Kerr argued that players with soccer backgrounds are better passers, citing Steve Nash and Toni Kukoc as examples.
Of course, Kerr played with Kukoc as a member of the Chicago Bulls, and Nash's love for soccer has been well-renowned for years. He is a commentator for Bleacher Report‘s coverage of the UEFA Champions League.
Additionally, NBA stars like Kobe Bryant (who grew up in Italy) have some soccer DNA, and Bryant has been on record speaking about how his experiences on the pitch helped him to develop on the court.
Follow Us
Subscribe