Steve Kerr was leader enough to stand up to Jordan in 1995

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Steve Kerr strikes everyone as one of the world's nicest men, with a history of toughness and resilience under duress. Here's the real question, as he takes over the Warriors with no coaching experience: Is he a leader?

For some, it's hard to imagine Kerr taking that commanding, almost tyrannical stance every coach needs in a crisis. Then again, this is a man who has spent his life stepping to the front. Even if it meant trading punches with Michael Jordan.

It was at the Chicago Bulls' training camp in 1995, following Jordan's unsatisfying return from retirement that spring (17 regular-season games and a playoff series loss to Orlando). People were saying Jordan wasn't the same, that the Bulls were now Scottie Pippen's team, and he took it out on his teammates, regularly belittling and intimidating them during practice to make sure everyone knew who was in charge.

One afternoon, Kerr decided he'd heard enough trash-talking and yelled something back. Jordan nailed him in the chest with a forearm shiver, Kerr pushed back, and it was on. Not exactly Hearns-Hagler, but punches were thrown and Kerr wound up with a black eye.

"I don't know what the hell I was thinking," Kerr recalled on TNT last year. "We're going back and forth, and next thing you know, our teammates are pulling him off me. But I was pretty competitive, and I kind of played with a chip on my shoulder. I had to, or I wouldn't have made it."

Let Steve do it

San Antonio Spurs' Steve Kerr is congratulated by teammate Emanuel Ginobili after Kerr shot a three-pointer against the New Jersey Nets in the second half of game 5 of the NBA Finals Friday June 13, 2003 in East Rutherford, N.J. The Spurs defeated the Nets 93-83. (AP Photo/Miles Kennedy) less San Antonio Spurs' Steve Kerr is congratulated by teammate Emanuel Ginobili after Kerr shot a three-pointer against the New Jersey Nets in the second half of game 5 of the NBA Finals Friday June 13, 2003 in ... more Photo: Miles Kennedy, AP Photo: Miles Kennedy, AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Steve Kerr was leader enough to stand up to Jordan in 1995 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

That incident was the catalyst of one of the NBA's greatest moments, and a personal highlight of my days covering NBA Finals. Game 6 of the 1997 Chicago-Utah series was at the United Center, a building roughly the size of Saturn. A few writers had seats on the baseline, but most of us were stashed up in the rafters - literally the worst seats in the house.

After watching what amounted to a bunch of ants in the first quarter, I reluctantly retreated to the press room, where dozens of writers were watching the game on TV. With 28 seconds left in a tie game, the Bulls called timeout - and I snapped. Couldn't take the TV thing any longer. Armed with a credential, walking briskly with that "supposed to be here" look, I walked through a hallway onto the edge of the court, took about a dozen steps up a courtside aisle and remained standing, like most everyone else in the arena. The ushers were too wrapped up in the moment to even care.

Jordan had always said he had the utmost respect for Kerr after they'd fought in practice. He trusted Kerr as much as any teammate, and felt he'd be a wide-open option if John Stockton pulled off him to double-team Jordan. I learned later that Kerr, never flinching in that huddle, told Jordan, "If he comes off, I'll be ready."

With everyone in the country anticipating another Jordan miracle, it was Kerr hitting the 16-foot shot that clinched the NBA championship. I was thrilled to have seen it from point-blank range. And the fans of Chicago got a taste of Kerr's wit when he addressed a massive throng at a downtown celebration.

"When we called timeout, Phil (Jackson) told Michael, 'I want you to take the last shot,' " Kerr told the crowd. "And Michael said, you know, Phil, I don't feel real comfortable in these situations (laughter). Maybe we ought to go in another direction. So I thought to myself, well, I guess I gotta bail Michael out again."

The great unknown

Following up on the leadership angle: When a coach with no experience takes over an NBA team, there's just no way of telling. Jason Kidd, Doc Rivers and Mark Jackson justified their reputations as born leaders. Larry Bird spent only three years on the job, but he took Indiana to the 1998 Eastern Conference finals in his first season, and later to the NBA Finals. Don Nelson became the Milwaukee Bucks' head coach within months of his retirement as a player at the age of 36 and launched a Hall of Fame career.

Then again, Jerry West (Lakers, late '70s) and Magic Johnson (1994 Lakers) discovered they weren't quite cut out for the task. Things never quite clicked for Isiah Thomas, and the jury's still out on Houston's Kevin McHale.

Perhaps most interesting is the league's history of player-coach experiments. That's how the great Lenny Wilkens broke into coaching, with the 1969-70 Seattle SuperSonics, and he never looked back. Bill Russell won two titles in the late '60s as the Celtics' player-coach. And when Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli decided to fire coach George Lee with 30 games left in the 1969-70 season, he turned to his highly respected guard, Al Attles. Unsure of his future, Attles remained the team's player-coach the following season until accepting the head coaching job full-time. To this day, he is the most successful coach in franchise history.

Don Nelson became the Milwaukee Bucks' head coach within months of his retirement as a player."