Video surfaces of Steve Kerr motivating Kevin Durant with Michael Jordan-John Paxson story
During Episode 4 of ESPN docuseries "The Last Dance" about the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls team that completed the franchise's second championship three-peat of the decade, the world learned about an interesting conversation Bulls coach Phil Jackson had with superstar Michael Jordan regarding teammate John Paxson during Game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Even though former Chicago guard and current Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr didn't join the Bulls until 1993, he obviously learned about that discussion during his stint with the organization.
Monday afternoon, Bleacher Report shared a video of Kerr motivating Kevin Durant, who left the Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019, by telling him about Jordan trusting Paxson ahead of the last quarter of the '91 Finals:
As David Jablonski of the Dayton Daily News wrote, Episode 4 of "The Last Dance" provided further details of the original conversation between Jackson and Jordan:
“Phil asks Michael, “Who’s open?’” NBA reporter David Aldridge said in the documentary. “He says, ‘Paxson.’ All right, give him the ball.” A camera shows Jackson talking to the team in the huddle.
“You don’t have to shoot that shot,” Jackson tells Jordan. “John’s open right there. You can still create. He’s hitting shots.”
His Airness listened to the Zen Master, and the rest is history. Paxson caught fire, and the Bulls earned a seven-point victory over the Lakers to clinch Chicago's first NBA title.
Durant is no stranger to Finals success, as he earned NBA Finals MVP honors in 2017 and 2018. Nevertheless, Kerr's words about a star trusting those around him on basketball's biggest stage ring true regardless of the pupil hearing them during a game.
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