“If had taken the Knicks job, I would be out of the league in 2 years”: The 9x NBA Champ, Steve Kerr is thankful for picking Warriors job over GM Phil Jackson’s team

Akash Murty | 06/07/2022
"If had taken the Knicks job, I would be out of the league in 2 years": The 9x NBA Champ, Steve Kerr is thankful for picking Warriors job over GM Phil Jackson's team

A lot of things fell in right place at the right time before the Warriors won their first chip in 2015, Steve Kerr was one of them.

Back in 2014 when Steve Kerr took over the job of leading the Golden State Warriors team as their Head Coach, they were already a championship calibre team. Former coach Mark Jackson developed a winning culture which wasn’t there for a long time.

They had a first-round exit in the 2014 playoffs against a Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan but the following year which would be Kerr’s first year in the club they would go all the way to win the NBA championship which would be the club’s first in 40-years.

That would be the first of their four championships in the next eight seasons in which they will appear in six NBA Finals and become the NBA’s first dynasty after the Bulls and the Spurs. But none of that would have come true had Kerr taken the job with New York Knicks where his former coach Phil Jackson was the General Manager.

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Steve Kerr was close to signing with the Knicks because of Phil Jackson

In an interview with John Stewart on his Apple TV podcast “The Problem with Jon Stewart,” Kerr had a lot of friendly back and forth with the former Daily Show host who is one of those famous heart-broken Knicks fans who has been frustrated for a very long time.

Both of them talked about how the 5x NBA champ with the Bulls and the Spurs joined the Warriors when he also had the chance to join the Knicks where his Bulls coach Phil Jackson was managing things and wanted him for the HC role.

The advice from his other coach friends helped him out. One, in particular, stood out, who advised him to do what Jackson would do if he was to choose between a Knicks and a team with talents like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.

Also read: Charles Barkley recalls incident of Michael Jordan betting $300,000 during 1 insane day on the golf course

The man is now one of the most decorated players turned coaches in the NBA. Only Phil Jackson and Bill Russell have more championships than him as a player and coach combined.

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Golden State Warriors New York Knicks Phil Jackson Steve Kerr

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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