Michael Jordan has gotten quite a few people paid in his lifetime. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr evidently counts himself among those ranks.
“I owe him (Jordan) everything,” Kerr recently said on NBC Sports’ “Sports Uncovered” podcast.
“For me, [playing with Jordan] completely changed the rest of my life... To that point, I had bounced around. I was just an average player. I was able to play on these championship teams, made a name for myself, was able to get into TV, into broadcasting, into management and coaching. And the reason people hired me for these jobs later on is because I had played next to Michael Jordan and I had been part of championship teams.”
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Apparently, he picked up a few tricks of the trade playing alongside Jordan as well. In a recent Zoom conference with reporters, Warriors recent trade acquisition Kelly Oubre Jr. quipped that he thinks Kerr inherited his "s--t talking" ability from the Jordan.
"I feel like we can all be very transparent with each other and also just joke around a little bit," Oubre said of the vibe around the team. "Coach Kerr can say something very smart, but at the end of the day he probably heard that from Michael Jordan because Michael Jordan is the biggest s--t talker ever... You have to respect it. It's just great. Great individuals around here."
After a follow-up asking if Kerr steals jokes...
"He steals s--t talk, because I don't think he s--t talked a lot back in his day when he was hooping," Oubre said. "I could be wrong, but I don't think I am."
Jordan's influence continues to swell. The Warriors visit the Bulls for the two's first head-to-head of the 2020-21 season on Dec. 27. Be on the lookout.