Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich open up about their relationship

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OAKLAND – Gregg Popovich has no interest in running for president of the United States, but he was willing to entertain a hypothetical question about it: If he did run, would he choose Steve Kerr to be his Vice President?

Popovich initially chuckled, brushing off the idea of a political career. Then he revealed just how much he respects Kerr, who played under him 15 years ago and has gone on to become a two-time championship coach with the Golden State Warriors.

“I should be his Vice,” Popovich told The Bay Area News Group.

They’re two of the most respected basketball coaches in the NBA. They’re also close friends who share similar views on social and political issues. Their words have resonated with many people, inspiring websites that support them as a presidential ticket. One of them, www.popovichkerr2020.com, has created mugs and T-shirts in the style of campaign posters.

But, unfortunately for their supporters, Kerr and Popovich also have something else in common.

“Both of us realize that we’re not built or qualified for such an office, nor do we desire it,” Popovich said.

There’s a deep well of respect between Popovich and Kerr. They sing each other’s praises, jokingly take shots at each other in media sessions and genuinely feel a bit torn when their teams play each other. Thursday night won’t be easy for either of them.

“It’s awkward because I hate to see him ever lose,” Popovich said. “And if we would win, which was rare, you’d still feel a bit badly for him. And I’m sure he felt vice versa.”

They met in 1998, back when Popovich, now 69, wasn’t yet the venerated architect of a franchise that has made 20 consecutive playoff appearances and won five NBA championships.

Kerr, 52, played under Popovich during two different stints in 1998-2000 and 2002-2003. Popovich had just become the Spurs’ head coach in 1996, and was trying to get his feet on the ground.

“Pop wasn’t Pop yet,” Kerr said. “He was a young coach. I didn’t know what to expect. But I liked him immediately on a personal level. He was a straight shooter. I know he cared about me and cared about all of the guys on the team.”

Popovich asked Kerr about his family, including his father, Malcolm, an American academic who was assassinated in Beirut in 1984 in an act of terrorism.

Popovich’s interest went a long way with Kerr.

“I just wanted to know that the coach cared about my life and my existence beyond whether I made a shot or not,” Kerr said. “That was the first quality that stood out. He wanted to know about my life, my background, my family, my kids.”

Kerr had played under some great coaches, including Lute Olson at the University of Arizona and Phil Jackson with the Chicago Bulls. But Popovich always did things differently.

Popovich used to divide players into shooting groups based upon their political beliefs. He’d say if you voted for George W. Bush, head to this end of the court. If you voted for Al Gore, head to that end. One time he used the tax increase; those in favor in one group, those opposed in the other. It was always something new, something that encouraged his players to broaden their horizons.

“It was just a good way of making guys think,” Kerr said.

Whenever discussions broke out over those issues, Kerr always stood out. He was thoughtful and opinionated. He’d speak up, ask questions and express his views. It made a big impression on Popovich, a graduate of the Air Force Academy who once had considered a career with the Central Intelligence Agency.

“That’s where it started and we just continued from there,” Popovich said. “We’ll text each other right now when something will happen or something will be said by the current administration that’s just mind-blowing and nobody does anything about it. The congressmen are all sitting on their thumbs afraid of him. It always intrigues us.”

Popovich and Kerr have emerged as two of the most outspoken critics of President Donald Trump in the sports world. They both use their platforms to speak about social injustices and societal ills, defying the sector of the population that thinks they should just stick to basketball.

Basketball is where it all began, though, and politics is just one of the many areas in which the two coaches overlap.

From the outset, Kerr admired how Popovich ran things and marveled at his willingness to scream at his star players. While other coaches would defer to their superstars, Popovich would target them, knowing if they fell in line, everyone else would too.

Kerr respected it and thought that was smart. He also greatly appreciated the fact that Popovich didn’t direct any of those tirades at him.

“If he had yelled at me, it might have destroyed me,” Kerr said. “Because I wasn’t a very confident player. I had struggled coming from Chicago to a new system. I didn’t play well. Pop was very wise. He knew guys like me, we weren’t the right target. You’ve got to know your audience. You’ve got to know your team.”

It’s something that left a deep impression on Kerr, so much so that when he was hired by the Warriors as their head coach in 2014, the first thing he did was pull aside Stephen Curry and ask him if he could treat him the same way Popovich treated Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

“That’s how we started when he first signed onto the team,” Curry said. “We had a talk…That was something he brought up as setting the culture and identity of establishing himself as a coach. His expectation was that I’d be able to take that. And from 1 through 15, he could keep everybody accountable and not have to worry about hurting people’s feelings.”

It’s one of the many things that Kerr learned from Popovich and now uses with his own team. There’s also the importance of work-life balance, resting players and encouraging his guys to have interests outside of the game. And then there’s the sayings that can be heard in both gyms, such as “get over yourself” or “have the appropriate fear” or “fill your cup.”

Though Kerr was smart enough to incorporate things he learned along the way into his coaching, he was also smart enough to develop his own style. It’s one of the reasons Popovich thinks Kerr is so successful.

VIDEO: “He’s obviously one of the all-time greats” — Kerr talking about Popovich after the recent Warriors game against the Hawks.

“To be a coach in this league, I think one of the most important things in the NBA is to be yourself because players have a magnificent BS antenna,” Popovich said. “If you’re not real, and you’re not who you are, and you’re trying to be this image or you’re trying to be somebody else — they know it immediately and it’s over. They don’t trust you. They don’t want to be around you. And they’re not going to play hard for you. You got to be real.”

“He’s taken who he is as an individual, onto the court, onto practice — his sense of humor is huge, his competitiveness is huge, his genuine quality of being aggressive but loving at the same time. Like this is the way we do things, and we’re going to stick with it. We’re going to persevere. He gets people to want to follow him and he earns their respect.”

Popovich and Kerr are effusive in their praise of one another, but they’re also not above messing with each other.

When Popovich first started coaching, he had a rule that if he ran into any of his players at a restaurant, he’d pick up their bill. Kerr exploited that arrangement by regularly asking the hotel concierge where Popovich would be dining and then showing up there as if by coincidence.

“It was a symbiotic sort of relationship,” Popovich said. “But I was the host.”

The teasing goes both ways. Kerr’s son, Nick, currently works for the Spurs as an assistant in the film room. Before the Warriors hosted the Spurs in February, Popovich joked that Nick couldn’t be trusted and he had to confiscate his cell phone.

Said Kerr: “He calls my son a spy. He said my son could be working for Putin.”

Popovich and Kerr talk on the phone every few weeks and text back and forth often. Though they have many similarities, they also have many differences.

David Lee, a two-time All-Star who played for Kerr from 2014-15 and Popovich from 2016-17 before retiring last summer, said the two coaches have completely different styles.

“Coach Kerr is a lot more laid back,” Lee said. “I think he’d probably tell you that he’s a combination of Popovich and Phil Jackson. So he’s a little bit in between. Pop is very much in charge is the kind way to say it. They’re both tremendous coaches X’s and O’s wise. They run a different system, but both incredible coaches. The best two coaches I’ve played for.”

David West, who also played for both coaches (Popovich from 2015-16 and Kerr from 2016-now), said they both understand that basketball is just a game and have a great perspective on life. But, that being said, he added that during games they operate at the same intensity.

“They’re both very fiery, not afraid to say what they want to say or what they need to say,” West said. “In that regard they’re alike. If they’ve got to fire off on guys, they will. Fire off on referees, they will.”

Even though the Warriors have been to three straight NBA Finals, winning championships in 2015 and 2017, and are expected to make another run at the title this season, Kerr still looks at the Spurs as the paragon of success.

“Looking back now over his 20 years, there’s been five different iterations of the Spurs,” Kerr said. “That’s what’s most remarkable about Pop. He’s a chameleon. He’s brilliant in terms of reading the league, reading his own team, and figuring out how his own team can be successful and sustaining that success over time. It’s unprecedented what they’ve done.”

Popovich and Kerr were put in an interesting position last season when their teams met in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors swept the Spurs out of the series, meaning the former student swiftly and firmly defeated his mentor.

For Kerr, it was a double-edged sword.

“I was happy for our team,” Kerr said. “But I felt for Pop. I didn’t say much…There may have been a phone call afterward or a text. More than anything, there’s just a humility and a compassion in victory and in defeat. I always felt that when Pop was my coach. And I’ve been impacted by that now as a coach. I feel humility and compassion win or lose, whichever side you’re on.”

One of Popovich’s greatest lessons was highlighted in that moment — There are far more important things in life than basketball.

In this case, it was friendship.

“Take what you do seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously,” Kerr said. “That’s such a great way to live your life. When you’re passionate about something, but not obsessive. When you work your tail off, but then you can let it go and enjoy life.”

Both Popovich and Kerr are masters of that philosophy.

Their relationship began on the basketball court, but it now extends far, far beyond that.

“We will talk and text long after we’re both done coaching,” Kerr said. “He will remain one of my best friends.” Related Articles Giannis Antetokounmpo wins second MVP award; Is an NBA title with Warriors next?

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