“Everyone was terrified of Michael Jordan”: Steve Kerr explains the key difference between stars like Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan and His Airness

Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr talks about how Michael Jordan struck fear into the mind of his opposition and teammates alike

There are no two opinions about the fact that Michael Jordan is one of the best, if not the best, players to play the game of basketball. Every time he stepped out on the court, Jordan gave it his all, and always was out for a win. MJ was one of the fiercest competitors that basketball, or for that matter, any sport has ever seen.

Jordan had this famous ideology. He did not beat himself up over losses, instead, he said, ‘I never lost a game, I just ran out of time’. 

Also Read: “Learnt about my Finals opponents”: Michael Jordan ‘spied’ on Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and John Stockton when with the Dream Team at Barcelona’s 1992 Olympics

All this just goes to show how His Airness did not like to slack off at all. In order to increase his chances, his wrath did not limit to his opponents alone. MJ has been known to be hated/feared by his teammates as well.

Steve Kerr talks about what makes Michael Jordan differ from Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan

If anyone knows about winning, it’s Steve Kerr. Having won eight championships, Kerr knows a lot about what it takes to win, and the championship culture. Steve Kerr has played with Michael Jordan, and then later Tim Duncan. He has also coached great players like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. However, according to Kerr, Jordan is a level apart from all of them.

The Warriors’ Head Coach recently made an appearance on the Rex Chapman show, where he talked about MJ. Kerr, when asked about what separated Jordan from players like Stephen Curry and Tim Duncan, said,

“Well, he wasn’t humble. But in a good way. Like he was, Michael just dominated games spiritually, emotionally.”

“You walk out there on the floor and you looked down, cuz I was an opponent many years playing against Michael. You walked on the floor back then and you looked down you saw him, and you were kinda like, I don’t think we are gonna beat this guy…everybody was just afraid of him.”

Also Read: “No idea, but I need to get back”: Ben Simmons opens up about his free throw troubles and how it cost the Sixers Game 5 against the Hawks

Although, Kerr said the main differentiating factor was how Jordan treated his teammates.

“He drove us hard [during practice]. Timmy doesn’t do that. Steph doesn’t do that, but that’s the way Michael did it… Michael was hard on everybody, he drove everybody. he wouldn’t settle for anything less than extreme effort in practice every day.”

New episode of The Rex Chapman Show: @SteveKerr joined @RexChapman and @MrJoshHopkins!

Kerr discusses Steph Curry’s greatness, playing with Michael Jordan, how Phil Jackson/Gregg Popovich/Lute Olson influenced him, the NBA’s evolution & more. Time-stamps: https://t.co/FKOrDWL7N3

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 15, 2021

The Last Dance showed us a glimpse into the same, but according to His Airness’ former teammates, the docu-series doesn’t even show half of what used to happen. However, this just solidifies how fierce a competitor MJ truly was.