Steve Kerr Held in New Esteem After “The Last Dance”

Over the past five weeks, with almost no new games being played, the sports world immersed itself in “The Last Dance,” ESPN’s brilliant 10-part documentary which intertwined the stories of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls franchise. Unsurprisingly, most of the conversation surrounding the film has been about Jordan. But after the final two episodes aired on Sunday night, social media wasn’t focused on him or Scottie Pippen or Dennis Rodman — the focus was on Steve Kerr.

Kerr, who played point guard for the Bulls from 1993 to 1998, was one of the main subjects of the ninth episode. Some of the material deals with his career arc as he evolved from a little-recruited high school player into a key bench contributor to each title in Chicago’s second three-peat. However, the much more powerful part of the documentary delves into his personal side.

Prior to “The Last Dance,” a lot of basketball fans already knew that Kerr was a three-point specialist who made the series-winning shot in the 1997 NBA Finals. Similarly, a lot of fans were already familiar with his hilarious speech at the subsequent victory parade, in which he put a lighthearted spin on the play that put the ball in his hands. Not as many know what Kerr went through as a teenager.

Kerr’s father Malcolm became President of the American University of Beirut in 1982. Two years later, when Kerr was a freshman in college at Arizona, Malcolm was shot and killed on the Beirut campus by Muslim extremists. Kerr found out when he received a phone call in his dorm room in the middle of the night. After the tragedy, he retreated further into basketball, becoming even more determined to improve. In a world where so much had stopped making sense, the basketball court was one place where nothing was confusing. He could control what happened there and when he played, he wasn’t drowning in grief.

After five years and four seasons in Tucson, Kerr was a late second-round pick of the Phoenix Suns and spent the next five seasons struggling to find his place in the league. He had some solid stretches with the Cleveland Cavaliers but found his true calling in Chicago. He became a capable backup point guard and an offensive spark as one of the best, most dependable three-point shooters in NBA history. He is first all-time in career percentage from outside the arc (45.4%) and used to hold the single-season percentage record for that range as well (52.4% in 1994-1995).

But in Chicago, the role players couldn’t just put up stats. They had to gain the respect of Jerry Krause, Phil Jackson and, of course, No. 23. Kerr managed to do this. For two players who had taken such different career paths, Jordan and Kerr had a remarkable similarity in their families.

In 1993, a little over one month after Jordan won his third championship, his father James was shot and killed while napping in his car. Jordan wound up taking the opposite path from Kerr, moving away from basketball by retiring and playing baseball for two years. When he returned, he developed one of the more interesting relationships he ever had with a teammate. The two found they shared common ground in their respective paternal tragedies and their intensities. Their competitive drives clashed during training camp ahead of the 1995-1996 season. During an intense scrimmage, trash talk turned into light physical contact. Before long, they were shoving and punching each other and the rest of the team jumped in to break up the fight. The situation got resolved pretty quickly, but Jordan left the skirmish with a newfound respect for Kerr. A bench player who was less talented, three inches shorter, and 40 pounds lighter than he had stood up to him. He developed trust in Kerr and, when Jordan was double-teamed in the closing seconds of game six of the 1997 Finals, he felt confident passing the ball to Kerr for the pressure shot. They held each other in enough regard for Kerr to be willing to take some humorous digs at Jordan in his parade speech. Kerr’s relationship with Jordan and the opportunities that emerged as a result are part of the reason that a lot of NBA fans can name Kerr but not some of the other main bench players from those Bulls teams.

Incredibly, Kerr receives the second-most interview time over the course of “The Last Dance,” trailing only Jordan. The extensive discussions with him allow audiences to see him as more than just a Bulls player or the current Warriors coach. His story was not widely known before the documentary. Now, NBA fans will better understand the incredible journey he’s taken. They will know why he is so passionate and outspoken about gun control and other controversial issues. And perhaps most importantly, they may gain a newfound appreciation for him. Here are just a few tweets reacting to episode nine:

“You go through Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. And then by the end of The Last Dance, your favourite player can only be @SteveKerr” - @PhilHay_

“Steve Kerr went through a lot. I got more respect for that dude after tonight.” - @HerciMerci

“The Steve Kerr segment is by far the best part of the entire series, in my opinion, just an incredible human being #TheLastDance” - @2hegar

“Also, how impressive a guy is @SteveKerr? Had no idea of his backstory. Reckon he’d be a terrific coach to play for. #TheLastDance” - @rohan_connolly

Before this documentary aired, Steve Kerr was a basketball personality who was well-known and understood only in certain basketball circles. Now that people have been given the opportunity to learn more, he could turn into someone respected by a much larger group of people — and we’re all better off because of that.