Steve Kerr got an up-close view of Michael Jordan's greatness during their four championship-laden seasons as Chicago Bulls teammates.
So when the current Golden State Warriors head coach heard that the NBA had renamed — and redesigned — its regular season MVP trophy to honor Jordan, he was hardly surprised.
"I think it means a lot to him. This is a guy who went to the Finals six times, won all six times, and won Finals MVP all six times," Kerr recently told NBC Sports Bay Area in a sitdown interview. "He was the obvious choice if you were going to name the trophy after someone."
In addition to the accolades Kerr lists, Jordan also achieved five regular season MVP awards — tied with Bill Russell for second all-time behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — plus 11 All-NBA selections, 14 All-Star selections, three All-Star MVPs, 10 scoring titles, one Defensive Player of the Year award, and Rookie of the Year honors across 15 decorated seasons.
In turn, Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all-time. His case for that distinction only grows with being made synonymous with the league's highest individual honor.
But Kerr noted that even a basketball immortal like Jordan is likely to have reflected intimately on his basketball life since retiring. Such an honor provides opportunity for him to continue to do so — and for supporters everywhere to be reminded of his greatness on an annual basis.
"I think there is a certain amount of reflection that all of us go through. And it's fun to be able to think back to the good times," Kerr said. "It's an incredible honor to have your name attached to something like that."
