Before he became the Warriors head coach, when you heard the name Steve Kerr you thought knockdown shooter who was best known for making big shots alongside Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan during stints in Chicago and San Antonio. That clutch shotmaking helped him secure five NBA championships with the two franchises.
Percentage-wise, Kerr is the all-time leading three-point shooter in NBA history at 45.4 percent. So if anyone knows how to celebrate a championship win, it’s the former Arizona Wildcats sharpshooter.
Kerr has been a part of many champagne-spraying and consuming celebrations. The newly crowned champion has been a part of nine such NBA celebrations. But the one he and the Warriors had following Thursday’s Game 6 was of epic proportions, so much to the point that Kerr told a reporter this as he stepped off the plane upon arrival back in the Bay Area:
“I’m not going to lie, I’m hungover right now. We had a great night last night. We had an incredible night. A late night but a special one celebrating with the team, the families. Just a beautiful night.”
As a coach, this is Kerr’s fourth championship in eight years of leading the Warriors, but this one seems to be the sweetest for many reasons. So Kerr is just reveling in what he and his team accomplished when many talking heads said their championship window had closed.
Kerr Basking In Return To The Top
Many predicted the Warriors wouldn’t be in this position again after Kevin Durant left for Brooklyn following the 2019 season. Injuries to stars Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry killed any chance of the Warriors being a contender during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. But in that same timeframe, the team added two-way wing Andrew Wiggins, the team’s second-best player this season as he earned his first All-Star appearance. Wiggins was so good in the NBA Finals that if not for the play of Curry he might have been named MVP.
The team also used some newfound quality draft capital to land draft picks Jordan Poole (2019), James Wiseman (2020), plus Jonathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody (2021). In free agency, the Dubs brought in Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II, two key cogs in the Dubs’ playoff run, especially the final three games of the Finals series.
With all those pieces, plus his core of Curry, Thompson, and Green all available, Kerr was able to mix-and-match lineups and show teams a variety of looks that benefited his team.
Kerr Says This Is Most Unlikely Title
According to ESPN, TNT, NBATV, FS1, and many others, this wasn’t supposed to happen, not just this year but again in the Bay Area with this Warriors team as currently constructed. Kerr and his used it as fuel to prove the naysayers wrong.
Kerr had this to say about championship No. 4 being the one that will stick because it was so unlikely.
“This one was the most unlikely championship of the four that we’ve had here. In a lot of ways, just incredibly meaningful because people really didn’t expect it. And we weren’t really sure when the season started if we could do it. So it all came together and we went on a great run, and I’m just thrilled for everybody.”
They’ll be the favorites heading into the 2022-23 NBA season.
