SAN ANTONIO – Steve Kerr may coach someday, maybe as soon as next season, maybe by the side of Phil Jackson in L.A. Last night, he vied to go out into retirement with a fifth ring.
Last night, after the Spurs KO’d the Nets 88-77, he got it.
Then there is Spurs backup center Kevin Willis, 40-year-old journeyman picking up his first championship. “Steve has the hardware,” Willis admitted. “He speaks, I listen.”
Like David Robinson, Kerr could go out as an NBA champion if he decides to walk away from the game. Willis, a free agent, said he’ll be back next season even if it’s elsewhere. “You won’t here retirement coming out of my mouth,” Willis said. “I’m going to play one way or another two more years. My mind and body is still sound.”
Willis said he will wear his championship ring for a few weeks, then give it to his mother, Hattie. “Why?, because she’s the reason for everything,” Willis said before last night’s championship-clinching Game 6. “I call her “The Reason.”
If last night was Kerr’s finale, it would be tough to duplicate his Game 5 Meadowlands magic. Coming off the bench cold and rusty just like in Game 6 vs. Dallas, Kerr made two huge shots and collected a steal to carry the Spurs to the brink of another championship.
“He’s the consummate pro,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who must be wondering why he hasn’t used Kerr more in a series in which both teams have set back offense to the peach-basket days.
Kerr is the anti-Mutombo, never complaining about minutes. Kerr had played less than a minute in the series when Popovich turned to him in the fourth quarter Friday with 9:02 left. With Manu Ginobili in foul trouble and Stephen Jackson shooting 33 percent in the series, Kerr finally got the call.
“He’s been just incredible,” Tim Duncan said. “He doesn’t play four games in a row and then his number is called and he’s always ready.”
It was the six-year anniversary of his heroics in Game 6 as a member of the Bulls. Kerr hit a 17-footer with five seconds left that snapped an 86-86 tie and gave the Bulls their fifth title in seven years over the Jazz. “I’ve got the greatest job on Earth,” Kerr said. “I come in, play like six minutes make a couple of shots and then I come to interviews in the interview room.”
So what’s Kerr’s future? “It’s whatever he wants to do,” Popovich said. “He may want to play, he may want to coach. I’ve told him he’s too smart for that. He may want to go into management or take someone’s TV job of someone in this room. He has all those skills. The future is whatever he decides to do. It’s his toughest decision.”
