Steve Kerr is a Champion.
Coach Kerr is celebrated for being a 5x NBA champion – 5x as a player and 3x as the coach of the Golden State Warriors – yet, it’s his character that remains undefeated.
This is a story of Coach Kerr’s wisdom, courage, and the will to win.
“Whoever has the idea, it doesn’t matter”
After winning the first game of the NBA finals in 2015, the Warriors lost two consecutive games to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors did eventually win the championship; however; their turnaround started after Steve Kerr received a text message at 3 AM.
Here’s what happened.
Nick U’ren, a 28 year old videographer had stumbled upon a game clip from 2014, uncovered a key insight, and knew the urgency with which Coach Kerr should know this vital piece of information. U’Ren called assistant coach Luke Walton about his discovery. Luke Walkton texted Coach Kerr at 3AM with this new information.
The morning after the text message, Steve Kerr assembled his coaching staff at the Ritz-Carlton, shared this new information with them, and made the decision to implement Nick’s proposal. It’s well known that this adjustment led to the Warriors crushing the Cavaliers and ultimately winning the championship.
Coach Kerr did three things:
- He understood that good ideas can come from anywhere.
- He had the wisdom to listen plus the courage to make a decision and live with the consequences.
- Lastly, he had the humility to let everyone know that the credit for the win was not his, but of his assistant Nick U’ren.
“This is why he’s the greatest boss in the world. We can all make suggestions, even a video guy, and he’ll seriously consider them.”
— Luke Walton on Steve Kerr
And just like that Coach Kerr created another leader out of a follower.
Ali
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