Steve Kerr quotes: long-range lessons from sharpshooter turned championship coach, Steve Kerr.
“I think it’s imperative to follow your heart and choose a profession you’re passionate about, and if you haven’t found that ‘spark’ yet, if you’re not sure what you want to do with your lives – be persistent until you do.”
“Be yourself, tell your story.”
“Stay true to your values.”
“The confidence that not only you can do it, but the mindset that goes along with that, the realization that you just can’t worry about it. You’ve just got to go. I worked a long time to try to achieve that mindset.”
“Putting yourself in the right mind frame is a pretty difficult thing to do, but that’s when it came together for me.”
“The future is coming so fast, we can’t possibly predict it; we can only learn to respond quickly.”
“You just want people to succeed and you want to help them any way you can.”
“It’s just as important to work ‘on’ your business as it is to work ‘in’ your business. While it’s easy to get caught up in all of the details of making payroll, launching your product, and supporting customers, you need to put aside time to write a concrete business plan, think about your growth strategy, and be self-critical.”
“Learn from your mistakes. By acknowledging mistakes, a small business leader can quickly learn from his or her failures and turn that into action.”
“Leaders can’t just surround themselves with brilliant people; they need to ensure the pieces work well together.”
“No matter what field you’re in, you’re managing human beings. That’s why communication and compassion are so important… and how it builds trust and rapport.”
“You have to treat each individual according to what that person needs.”
“There are different ways to get the message across, that if you’re creative enough, then they’re not going to get sick of your voice and they’re not going to get sick of you saying the same things over and over again.”
“As coaches, our job is to nudge them in the right direction, but we don’t control them. They determine their own fate.”
“You learn from your mentors, from your coaches, and then you have to sort of take that and put it into your own personality, your own style, and go from there.”
“It is an interesting balance in trying to find players to make your team really good and at the same time running a financially sound operation. That is the challenge for every team.”
“There’s a lot of different styles that can work. You have to base it on your own personnel.”
“I learned that people everywhere are basically the same and have similar goals that we do. They want health and happiness and the opportunity to provide for their families.”
“We all have to start thinking about ways we can connect with one another and stop this divide, and maybe sports is a good sort of forum to try to help that.”
“I do believe that one way to bring cultures together, to develop trust between people and countries and religions, is through education. And through music and art and basketball and activities and joys that people share worldwide, regardless of ethnic background or religious orientation.”
“Despite the amazing diversity we’re blessed with in this country, schools are still in large part segregated because of economic disparity. Sports are one of the few areas where kids are really given the opportunity to interact with those of different races and religions.”
“Remember where you came from.”
“My parents literally showed me a whole world that existed beyond typical American culture. They gave me an education in understanding people; in being compassionate and respectful. They taught me that though people may speak or dress differently, or have customs or beliefs that were foreign to me, it was important to take the time to not only understand those differences, but to embrace them as well. That came in handy years later when Dennis Rodman became my teammate with the Bulls.”
“Basketball has given me the chance over the years to build relationships with people from all over the world and all different backgrounds. At Arizona I played on a team with white and black kids from around the United States. In the NBA, I had teammates from Australia, Croatia, Argentina, China and France. And when you play on a basketball team together, you get to know each other so well that language barriers and cultural differences quickly vanish. Ultimately, being a part of a team means competing, working, living and winning and losing together. And in the end, a teammate’s nationality, his language, his taste in music or his religion aren’t sources of division, but in fact mediums of greater friendship, understanding and success.”
“I never ever gave ownership a thought. My thoughts before I retired were coaching and broadcasting.”
“I have always been very comfortable behind a microphone. I love talking about basketball, I love being around people, I love being around the game, the travel and the excitement around the arena.”
“I feel like it’s my responsibility to speak on something that’s very important to me.”
“After dark I’m a different guy, right? Sorry mom.”
“I’ve been incredibly blessed in my life in terms of opportunity. I was lucky to grow up in a wonderful family. I was fortunate to be offered a scholarship to play basketball in Arizona and to play professionally with people like Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan. I was blessed to play for championship teams and great coaches. Certainly there are plenty of people out there who are more talented than me, but who never were ‘in the right place at the right time’ as I was. But I owe any success that I’ve had in my life not just to opportunities, but to the people who prepared me to meet them and to make the most of them.”
“The cliché is ‘time flies when you’re having fun,’ and that’s actually been true for me.”
“Life goes by fast, so you got to enjoy every minute.”
“Would I go back and do it over again? Damn right.”
“I’ve been blessed. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
Related: Steph Curry quotes.
