Phil Jackson congratulates Kerr, Warriors on NBA Championship victory
Steve Kerr recently became the first rookie NBA head coach to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy since Pat Riley did so in 1982 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was the culmination of a magical campaign for his Golden State Warriors, who not only won their first championship in 40 years, but did so with a staggering 83 victories - something only Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls (1995-96, 96-97) had been able to do.
The man calling the shots for those Bulls teams was Phil Jackson, who wanted Kerr to coach the New York Knicks (the team Jackson resides over as team president) prior to the start of the 2014-15 season. Kerr ultimately decided to take over the reins in Golden State, after former coach Mark Jackson was relieved of his duties.
Phil Jackson, who also coached Kerr for five seasons in the Windy City, recently congratulated his former guard for his title win on his Twitter account.
Congrats to Warriors/SKerr and staff. great D,court awareness,team play and it's a wrap.
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) June 17, 2015
One trait Jackson failed to acknowledge was the Warriors' excellent 3-point shooting. The team shot 37.4 percent from long range throughout their 21-game postseason run.
The Zen Master was vocal on social media during the second round of the playoffs when teams like the Warriors and Houston Rockets, both of whom finished in the top four in 3-point attempts during the regular season, were trailing in their respective series.
NBA analysts give me some diagnostics on how 3pt oriented teams are faring this playoffs...seriously, how's it goink?
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) May 10, 2015
Kerr was impartial about Jackson's comments, knowing that the offensive strategy he deployed throughout the year was good enough to get this team far.
Asked Steve Kerr what he thought about this Tweet. He smiled and said: "Don't care." https://t.co/dlVnv6rCsa
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 10, 2015
Golden State was never as one-dimensional as Jackson was making them out to be, though, as the Warriors bolstered the league's No. 1 defense, were superb on the glass (44.7 rebounds per game, seventh in the league), and had one of the NBA's deepest and most talented rosters, led by the stellar play of regular season Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry.
Jackson eventually went back on some of his comments, although it was still clear that he wasn't a fan of teams relying heavily on outside shooting.
The 69-year-old must be eating his words with the Warriors being newly-crowned champions, having knocked off LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.