\tBack when his hair wasn\u2019t silver, back when he had four fewer championship rings, Steve Kerr was established as an NBA general manager. He quit the Phoenix Suns after reaching the Western Conference finals in 2010. He said he \u201cwasn\u2019t very good at the job,\u201d preferring a return to TNT broadcasting.<\/p>\n
\tSince then, he has established a legacy as one of the finest coaches in league history. Today, after the Golden State dynasty died nasty, he could be available as a GM\/vice president in another city. It probably is beneath him to take a phone call from the Chicago Bulls, though it might be coming from John Paxson, Kerr\u2019s predecessor as a shooter who hit a jumpshot to win a title and relieved Michael Jordan of the duties. Could he return to the United Center, where he hit the killer and later railed on Donald Trump at the Democratic National Convention?<\/p>\n
\tIt would require enormous money. Michael Reinsdorf, like his father, has yet to prove he will spend despite a franchise valuation of more than $6 billion. It would require removing anyone else in Kerr\u2019s way. The Bulls own two first-round picks in the June draft, at No. 9 and around No. 15, and still have Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey on a ramshackle roster. This could be a resounding life change as Kerr decides about the Warriors, where Stephen Curry will continue at 38 while knowing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wants his own dynasty and Victor Wembanyama is looking for another rejection.<\/p>\n
\tCoaching in a play-in game is not Kerr\u2019s best taste after winning four times. He is 60 and could run a team coached by Billy Donovan. Would he re-join the Bulls? My guess is no, as NBA people view Reinsdorf as a joke handed the president\/CEO positions by a bigger joke. But they should attempt a meeting in the next few days, before Kerr determines his future with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and GM Mike Dunleavy. Jimmy Butler should return. Giannis Antetokounmpo might be sought in the offseason, but other than Draymond Green \u2014 who still plays defense but woefully picked a fight with Devin Booker \u2014 who is tradeable?<\/p>\n
\tIf not Kerr, what about Doc Rivers? He is finished as a coach, as he said Friday, after a terrible run in Milwaukee. Could Rivers return to his hometown and run the Bulls? He won a championship in Boston but had rough times with the Clippers, 76ers and Bucks. At least he\u2019s better than Arturas Karnisovas. He knows the league. I\u2019d prefer Kerr. But try both. In a job not very appealing to insiders, Reinsdorf might have choices.<\/p>\n
\tWould he like to take free throws? See if one actually rims in?<\/p>\n
\tOr he shoots two airballs.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen next, but I love you guys to death. Thank you,\u201d Kerr told Curry and Green in the final seconds of a 111-96 loss to the Suns. The setback was an emotional scene four years after the Warriors won their last championship. Why would Kerr return for the End of Curry after creating the greatest shooter of all time? Isn\u2019t there more to accomplish elsewhere?<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI still love coaching, but I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cThere is a run that happens and when the run ends, sometimes it\u2019s time for new blood and new ideas. \u2026 If (he leaves), then I will be nothing but grateful for the most amazing opportunity any person could have to coach this franchise in front of our fans and to coach Steph Curry, (Green), the whole group. It may still go on. It may not. I don\u2019t know at this point. But we all need to step away a little bit and then reconvene.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe should meet with Curry. They are connected in time. How will one exist without the other? \u201cThat\u2019s part of the equation. I don\u2019t want to walk away from Steph,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely not going and coaching somewhere else next year in the NBA. I would never walk away from Steph. But all this stuff has to be aligned and right. Those are all discussions that will be had.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe said \u201ccoaching.\u201d Not managing. \u201cI want Coach to be happy,\u201d said Curry, who wants to play \u201cmultiple\u201d seasons while batting injuries. \u201cI want him to be excited for the job. I want him to believe he\u2019s the right guy for the job. I want him to have an opportunity to enjoy what he does, whatever that means for him. Everybody\u2019s plan is their own. He knows how I feel about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tRivers might want to escape after a 32-50 season. But he never abandons the league. He could become a broadcaster again. Or he could head down I-94 and join the Bulls. He knew he was finished with the Bucks during a meeting seven weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey asked me what I wanted to do. One of the owners says one plan is, \u2018If we do this, you can hang in there for a year or two.\u2019 I literally said, \u2018Oh, no, no, no.\u2019 I told my coaches, I\u2019m done,\u201d Rivers told Bill Simmons. \u201cI loved coaching. Loved it. I had a lot of success at it, had way more ups than downs. But at the end of the day, I\u2019ve given 47 years or whatever, I don\u2019t even know how old I am \u2026 with no off time. I just wanted a break. I want to get away.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cRight now, I can tell you \u2026 I think it was time, so I\u2019d be surprised if I coached another game, I\u2019ll put it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe said coaching. Not managing.<\/p>\n
\tIt could be the Bulls end up with another goof. What does Reinsdorf know about the gig when he hired Karnisovas? Maybe he will take this column and toss it.<\/p>\n
\tSo be it. I have some answers. He has none.<\/p>\n
\t###<\/p>\n
\tJay Mariotti, called \u201cwithout question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,\u2019\u2019 writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk\/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back when his hair wasn\u2019t silver, back when he had four fewer championship rings, Steve Kerr was established…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-713727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116430051982833635","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}