Rivera: Kerr to help Suns in quest for rings; he has five
by Steve Rivera on Jun. 07, 2007, under Special, Sports
Steve Kerr
PHOENIX – He won five NBA titles with the league’s most recent dominating teams in Chicago and San Antonio.
Now Steve Kerr will try to bring the run-and-stun Phoenix Suns their first NBA title after being officially named their general manager and president on Wednesday.
“I would not have been able to play on this team,” joked Kerr, a former University of Arizona guard not known for his speed.
That’s OK. The Suns hired Kerr, a former television analyst with TNT, for his quick wit and ability to evaluate talent.
“I was out on the court trying to chase guys on the court who I had no business being on the court with athletically,” Kerr, 41, said. “I feel a bit more prepared for this one, educationally, intellectually and experiencewise.
“I’m not worried about Michael Jordan posting me up now that he’s with Charlotte. Ten years ago in practice, I had a much more difficult time. It’s a different venue, but it’s competition and it’s basketball.”
Suns owner Robert Sarver offered the GM job to Kerr three years ago when the Tucson native bought the team from Jerry Colangelo.
Now, two former Wildcats – can you hear the gasp? – are calling all the shots for Maricopa County’s sports crown jewel.
“It’s ironic, but a good ironic,” Sarver said.
Colangelo gave Kerr his first NBA shot in 1988, when the guard was drafted by the Suns in the second round.
Kerr, who went on to play 15 years in the NBA as a reserve, thanked Colangelo and the late Suns coach Cotton Fitzsimmons. And he didn’t forget his UA roots.
“Lute Olson was the guy who shaped my basketball career,” Kerr said. “I didn’t expect to be a college basketball player much less an NBA player. Playing for Lute laid the groundwork.”
Kerr’s hiring is “a natural” for the Suns and Sarver, said Olson, who is a good friend of Sarver’s.
Olson introduced Sarver to Kerr, who became an investor in Sarver’s group when the owner bought the team. Sarver was a UA ticket holder when Kerr helped the Wildcats get to their first Final Four in 1988.
“When people were talking about Steve coming back to coach (at UA), I said there was no way he’d ever do that. He’s too smart to do that,” Olson said.
“I felt he’d be a GM somewhere, and it’s fabulous that it’s in Phoenix. That would be his first choice of all the teams because of its proximity to San Diego (where Kerr lives).”
Kerr said he’ll have a place to live in Phoenix, but his family members will stay in San Diego, where they’ve established themselves.
It was his older children that convinced Kerr to take the job.
“They said, ‘Are you crazy? You gotta at least try,” Kerr said. “That’s the message that I’m trying to give them, so they are teaching me the lesson here.”
Kerr admitted he’s “not going in cold turkey.”
He has kept an eye on the franchise for some time and sat in on an NBA draft to see how things run.
He signed a three-year contract and was praised by Sarver for having a good NBA mind.
“I guess you can see he knows basketball because his first decision was when I asked him if he could go three or four years,” Sarver said. “He saw Steve Nash’s contract was for three more years, so he said three.
“He knows what he’s doing.”
Kerr, who retired as a player in 2003, won three titles with the Bulls and two with the Spurs. He holds the record for career 3-point field goal percentage (.454, 726 of 1,599).
Kerr was coy about what he’d do first with the team, although he anticipated using the Suns’ two first-round picks and second-round selection in the coming NBA draft.
“This is not a team that needs an overhaul,” Kerr said of the Suns, who were eliminated by the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. “It’s a team on the verge.”
Kerr’s first order of business?
“I’m going to shop Nash immediately,” he joked to reporters.
And so the self-effacing career of Kerr begins.
“I hope to have more of an impact than the 26-game stint I had as a Suns player,” Kerr quipped.
Not only is he Tucson’s favorite son, he’s on his way to becoming a Phoenix favorite.
Steve Rivera’s e-mail: srivera@tucsoncitizen.com
