Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was a key piece of the Chicago Bulls dynasty through their second NBA three-peat. Playing under Phil Jackson, Kerr certainly learned a lot from the Zen Master.
Episode 2 of the highly-anticipated “The Last Dance” documentary — which details the final season of the Bulls dynasty — mainly focused on Scottie Pippen and his frustrations with the Bulls management. After suffering a foot injury during the 1996-97 NBA season, Pippen needed to undergo surgery.
However, the Bulls all-around star forward opted to delay his surgery in an attempt to irk the team's management.
While Michael Jordan felt Pippen made the wrong decision to do so, head coach Phil Jackson did not have any problems with Scottie delaying the surgery. In a short snippet, Jackson admitted he did not hold any ill feelings towards the NBA icon. This particular part resonated with Kerr the most through the first two episodes released so far.
“I thought that was vintage Phil,” Steve Kerr said in a phone interview with The Star. “Vintage Phil.”
Now, Kerr certainly understands a thing or two about egos, having experienced the same thing with a very talented squad like the Warriors the previous five years. The three-time NBA champion coach understands how important it is to prioritize the players first before anything else.
“It was so much more about people than plays,” Kerr explained. “It was so much more about understanding how humans interact than the X’s and O’s. When I got to Chicago, I had never seen anybody deal with a team like that. And have such a deep sense of awareness of what makes people tick, what makes a team tick.”
Kerr saw what it takes to be coach from Jackson, and he has undoubtedly done a marvelous job of bringing that to the Warriors.
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