Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr played for multiple coaches who were masters in terms of managing different personalities in both Chicago and San Antonio.

Phil Jackson sometimes responded to Dennis Rodman differently than he responded to Toni Kukoc, just as Gregg Popovich communicated differently with Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard.

But it took Kerr a little longer to apply this practice to his own team. Kerr still remembers the first time he chewed out Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, quickly realizing he would need to take a different approach (via Logan Murdock of NBC Sports Bay Area):

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“My very first season, I lit into Klay. I took an early timeout, lit into Klay, and he didn't respond very well,” Kerr said on the Runnin’ Plays Podcast. “And he went out and was kind of rattled, made a couple mistakes.”

Confused, Kerr solicited advice from folks around the eccentric guard, then in his fourth NBA season, and found that Thompson is more receptive to a different style of coaching.

“I kind of checked that box,” Kerr said. “I said, ‘Klay’s not a guy who’s going to respond to yelling.’ ”

Kerr seemed to pick up on the little tells fairly quickly. The Warriors won the NBA title in his first season as head coach, and they would go on to win two more titles in a run of five consecutive NBA Finals appearances.

It is not a surprise to hear that someone as laid back as Thompson would respond negatively to yelling, though that might also be because he was just 24 years old at the time. The situation is likely a bit different now that Thompson is approaching his thirties.