Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has described Michael Jordan as the most emotionally dominant athlete he has ever encountered, explaining how the Chicago Bulls legend’s mentality influenced everyone around him.
Kerr, who won three NBA championships alongside Jordan in Chicago, believes his former teammate possessed a psychological advantage that extended far beyond his extraordinary basketball abilities.
“Yeah, I mean he was um the most emotionally dominant athlete I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s not close and um obviously the physical skills were incredible. um he’s the greatest player of all time, but there was an emotional um dominance that was hard to quantify, but when you were on his team, you knew you were going to win. Um… The other team knew he was going to win, the officials knew he was going to win, and the fans knew he was going to win.”
However, Kerr acknowledged that playing alongside Jordan was not always an enjoyable experience. The six-time NBA champion demanded exceptionally high standards from his teammates and constantly pushed them to improve.
Kerr contrasted Jordan’s leadership style with that of Tim Duncan and Stephen Curry, describing the latter two as more supportive and collaborative personalities.
“And but as a teammate, that was not easy because he drove uh drove us at such a high standard every single day. And um frankly, I had teammates who um I enjoyed a lot more. Tim Duncan, you know, was um very different leader. Tim was much more like Steph Curry, very compassionate, empathetic, um collaborative. Michael just drove us. He drove us and he was effective, but it was a very different form of leadership.”
Despite the challenges of meeting Jordan’s expectations, Kerr credited the legendary guard with having a profound impact on his career.
“And um you know playing with him changed my whole career and I I owe him you know my whole career really. Uh… but it was not easy.”
