Warriors’ pivotal Kerr-over-Jackson decision hits 10th anniversary

Warriors’ pivotal Kerr-over-Jackson decision hits 10th anniversary originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Precisely 10 years ago Tuesday, the Warriors made the most profound decision since the franchise was purchased by a group led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber in 2010. Less seismic than Kevin Durant, but more enduringly pivotal.

And it wasn’t initially popular with those in the locker room.

The hiring of Steve Kerr as head coach on May 14, 2014, only eight days after the dismissal of Mark Jackson was met with immediate puzzlement, was greeted with tepid skepticism.

Andre Iguodala, the team’s most respected veteran, questioned the firing of Jackson. Stephen Curry described Jackson, who presided over his NBA rise, was “a great coach.” Draymond Green said the team was “crushed” by the decision, citing year-over-year improvement and the franchise making back-to-back NBA playoff appearances for the first time in 22 years.

That’s the environment Kerr walked into on Day 1.

By early October, with training camp under way, puzzlement and skepticism began to fade. Six weeks into the season, amid a then-franchise-record 16-game win streak, they were a sepia memory.

When the season ended, on June 16 in Cleveland, the Warriors were each hugging other, shouting and spraying champagne all over the visitors’ locker room and into the face of the first-year head coach.

Kerr won over the roster with a combination of accessibility, humility, humor, empathy and candor – all of which conspired to deliver a franchise-record 67-15 season punctuated by Golden State’s first NBA Finals victory in 40 years.

Jackson was largely responsible for altering the perception of the Warriors from NBA afterthought to a team to be respected.

Kerr elevated the Warriors from a squad respected in basketball circles to a championship franchise that belonged among the NBA’s elite.

All because 10 years ago, in the second week of May, the Warriors met with Kerr in the hangar of a private airport in Oklahoma City, where Kerr was a TNT analyst for the Western Conference semifinals series between the Thunder and the Clippers. Golden State was…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/warriors-pivotal-kerr-over-jackson-142628495.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-05-14 14:32:00

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