
Courtesy of Golden State Warriors
Few coaches in any professional sport have enjoyed as much success as early as Steve Kerr, who piloted the Golden State Warriors to their third NBA championship in four years last week, culminating in a 108-85 rout to complete a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kerr, who played basketball and baseball at Palisades High (graduating in 1983) and went on to enjoy a successful collegiate career at the University of Arizona. He won five NBA titles as a player (three straight with the Chicago Bulls and two with the San Antonio Spurs) in a career that spanned from 1988 to 1993 and he holds the NBA record for career three-point percentage (45.4).
After serving as a broadcast analyst for TNT and spending three seasons as general manager of the Phoenix Suns, Kerr took over the head coaching job at Golden State in 2014-15 and led the Bay Area franchise to its first championship in 40 years. The Warriors won a league-record 73 games the next season but were upset by the Cavaliers in seven games in the finals. Golden State bounced back to beat Cleveland in six games last year. Kerr is already third on the Warriors’ all-time wins list behind Don Nelson and Eddie Gottlieb.
Kerr rode as grand marshal of the Pacific Palisades Fourth of July Parade in 2014 and returned to the Palisades last September for the memorial service for Jerry Marvin, his basketball coach at Pali High.
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