YouTube Gold: Steve Kerr, From Tragedy To Triumph

Kerr suffered a devastating loss and was taunted for it. As usual, he rose above.

Steve Kerr is best known for his run as Golden State’s head coach, where he’s helped lead the Warriors to four NBA championships. He also won five rings as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs and may win gold with the U.S. Olympic team next month (don’t count on that just yet though).

In other words, the guy is a winner. Has he lived a charmed life then?

Not exactly.

Kerr had a brilliant career at Arizona. Legend has it that the only offer he got was from Lute Olson, who was just getting started in Tucson. That may or may not be true, but whatever the truth, he had minimal opportunities. He made the most of his college career by hitting a high percentage of his threes and taking unbelievably good care of the ball, traits that followed him into the NBA.

He also had immense pain at Arizona as his father, Malcolm, who was president of the American University of Beirut, was assassinated during his freshman year. Later in his career, UA played at Arizona State, where a small number of fans disgraced themselves by taunting Kerr about his father’s death.

It still is one of the most shocking things imaginable. Who would behave like that? Who could possibly be that cruel? One hopes those losers woke up a few times in the middle of the night thinking about what they did that day in Tempe. Maybe time has given them some perspective. Maybe they have children now and they have more compassion. You sure hope so. You hope that anyone who could be so barbaric could find a way back to live among decent people. Still one of the all-time worst things in sports.