Steve Kerr was teammates with Michael Jordan. He won 72 games with him and three championships by his side.
Stever Kerr also won two championships with Tim Duncan as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.
One might think that either Jordan or Duncan and the 11 NBA Championships between the two would have been enough to help convince Kerr that one of the two were the most talented player he’s seen, but that distinction goes to Kevin Durant.
Durant spent three seasons with the Warriors and helped the team reach three consecutive NBA Finals, win back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
The fact that Kerr had the opportunity to coach Durant and observe him up close means that the head coach had ample opportunity to see him perform, and according to the coach, Durant is the most talented player he’s ever seen.
Kerr said as much to Logan Murdock of The Ringer.
“I would say Kevin is … when you factor in everything, size, speed, athleticism, I think he’s the most talented basketball player I’ve ever seen in my life.”
In the interview, Kerr touched on a number of subjects, including what it was like to coach Durant and how the player approached the task of altering his style of play to help the Warriors play winning basketball.
“He was very coachable. He was a sponge, especially the first year, he wanted to learn a new style… I think he really enjoyed playing the way we played, and he was really easy to coach. When a star makes it easy, for a coach to do his job, he just allows everything to click. And so, that first year, I think one of the reasons we were so dominant was because we had that dynamic across the board between Steph, Klay, Draymond, Kevin, we had it all lined up and everybody was on board and clicking, and it was a smooth ride.”
Having since left the Warriors to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, it’s been quite some time since the masses have seen Durant on an NBA court playing at full strength. He missed the entire 2019-20 season after rupturing his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals, but if he’s anywhere near the player Kerr last remembers, the Nets may have a shot to channel some of the energy the Warriors were able to