Steve Kerr boasts of the greatest winning percentage (.707) among head coaches in NBA playoffs history, winning 99 of his 140 postseason games with the Warriors. His four titles with Golden State also earned him the honor of succeeding Mike Krzyzewski as Team USA head coach in 2022.
Furthermore, Kerr was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history by a 43-person panel comprising current and former players and coaches. Kerr’s coaching legacy is set in stone, and will assuredly get the player-turned-coach a Hall of Fame nod one day.
Yet, one of Kerr’s former teammates, Dennis Rodman, does not think highly of his coaching skills.
On Wednesday, a fan on Reddit posted an interaction he had with Rodman at a public venue. When asked if he ever saw Kerr as coach material during their time together as Bulls teammates, Rodamn adopted a mocking tone to imply that the Warriors coach got lucky to inherit a prime Stephen Curry.
“Steve Kerr ain’t coaching [explicit]. Steve Kerr is just having a good time,” Rodman responded. “He ain’t coaching. He’s just sitting there watching them kids shoot. That’s all he’s doing — just sitting there — he ain’t doing a damn thing.”
It’s possible Rodman was being facetious with his comments. “The Worm” and Kerr have exchanged some friendly barbs in the past. In 2017, Rodman criticized coaches for resting players, pointing out how his generation of NBA players never missed games. Kerr responded by poking fun at Rodman for being suspended for a minimum of 15 games each season.
If Rodman was truly questioning Kerr’s coaching acumen, he wouldn’t be the first. Many have suggested that Kerr was lucky to inherit Mark Jackson’s 51-win Warriors in 2014 after his predecessor had done most of the hard work. However, Kerr was instrumental in turning the Warriors from a traditional pick-and-roll offense to a pace-and-space offense where Curry was no longer the primary ball-handler. Under Jackson, Curry played a more traditional point guard role and wasn’t running around screens all the time. Kerr also made the call to put Draymond Green at the five spot that gave birth to the “death lineup.”
Kerr is also one of five head coaches in NBA history to win it all in their rookie season.