Suns name Steve Kerr president, GM
InsideHoops.com NewsWire | June 6, 2007
The Phoenix Suns announced today that five-time NBA champion and former 15-year NBA veteran Steve Kerr has joined the club’s front office as the President of Basketball Operations and General Manager.
Mike D’Antoni remains the team’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach and will report to Kerr. David Griffin, who has been with the club since 1993, has also been promoted to Sr. Vice President of Basketball Operations.
Kerr’s NBA career will come full circle after entering the league as a second round selection of the Suns in the 1988 NBA Draft (50th overall) following a stellar collegiate career at the University of Arizona. He played in 26 games for the Suns in his rookie season in 1988-89. Kerr was also part of the ownership group that agreed to purchase the club in April 2004 along with current Managing Partner Robert Sarver, and has served as a consultant for Sarver since.
Most recently, Kerr worked as an NBA analyst for Turner Sports for the last four seasons (2003-07) and contributed to Yahoo! Sports as an NBA commentator.
Kerr, who retired as a player in 2003, holds the NBA record for career three-point field goal percentage (.454, 726-of-1,599) and the single season record for three-point accuracy, hitting .524 (89-of-170) of his attempts during the 1994-95 season with the Chicago Bulls. He also made the game-winning shot for the Bulls against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals.
Kerr won three NBA titles with the Bulls (1996-98) and was a member of the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA Championship teams in 1999 and 2003. He is the only non-Boston Celtic to win four-straight NBA titles and just the second player in NBA history to win two championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons, joining Frank Saul of the 1950-51 Rochester Royals and the 1951-52 Minneapolis Lakers.
The 41-year-old was born in Beirut, Lebanon and appeared in 910 regular season games, averaging 6.0 points, 1.8 assists and 1.2 rebounds. He played in 128 playoff games, averaging 4.3 points, 1.8 assists and 1.2 assists.
As a collegian, Kerr helped lead the Wildcats and head coach Lute Olson to their first Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1988 and remains the school’s career leader in three-point field goal percentage (.573). He was also named to the USA Basketball team that competed in the 1986 FIBA World Championship in Spain. That team was the last American Men’s Senior Team composed strictly of amateur players to capture a gold medal.
Kerr earned a degree in general studies from Arizona with an emphasis in history, English and sociology in 1988.
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