His parents never wanted to influence his career choices and always pushed him to be himself. Nicholas Kerr yet has more than one point in common with his father, Steve. For several months, the son of the Warriors coach has been at the head of the G-League team affiliated with Golden State, the Santa Cruz Warriors, of which he was previously an assistant.
The experience has been rather fruitful so far from an accounting standpoint. After a complicated start to the season, his Warriors have won eight of their last ten outings, the best current dynamic within the development league. They occupy 5th place in their conference (11v-7d).
Nicholas Kerr, however, remains very pragmatic about his potential trajectory in coaching. “ I like coaching, we'll see where that takes me. I'm ambitious, but I don't know… I just like having cool jobs in the NBA or the G-League. I feel like at this point next year I will be better able to find the balance between development, coaching and strategy. I'm sure he's been there too. “, displays the technician talking about his father.
The latter, after managerial experience with the Suns, was propelled to the head of the Warriors without even going through the assistant box of the Great League or the G-League. With the success we know: 500 career victories, and above all four NBA championship titles.
A modest academic career
A family heirloom likely to be heavy to bear. But the son, who had a modest university career in San Diego, then in California, says he did not “ never tried to live up to his imprint “.
As a player yesterday, then a coach today: “ I was trying to be myself, which is a good thing, because it's hard to be good enough. »
Nicholas Kerr, who in the past rubbed shoulders with his father's friend and mentor, Gregg Popovich, tends to become so detached that, according to Mike Brown, ” we can't know that he is Steve's son. He never took anything for granted, which he easily could have done (because of whom) was his father, especially Steve's success and everything he touches in life. This selflessness, his humility, paid off because he is a hard worker and a very, very intelligent man. »
Margot Kerr, Steve's wife and Nick's mother, sees in both men ” similar provisions. Very competitive, they are both very modest and calm. Nick never had any illusions about his basketball talent. He never thought he would turn professional, he really hoped to play in college. San Diego is a city where there's no interest in the NBA, so he didn't feel peer pressure. »
But sport, on or around the floor, remained his priority. “ I must say that he was never interested in anything else. There was no chance he would become an investment banker, although he had studied business », continues Margot Kerr whose son, aged 31, has time ahead of him to find his place.
