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Steve Kerr Coached His Son’s Team The Same As He Coaches The Warriors

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Chris Ballard (@SI_ChrisBallard) is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated most known for long-form articles on basketball and his books on the sport, including Hoops Nation and The Art of a Beautiful Game. His coverage of Golden State Warriors Coach and PCA National Advisory Board Member Steve Kerr and many other top players and coaches, along with Chris’ own youth sports coaching experience, uniquely qualify him to explain how best practices of pro sports coaches can translate to youth and high school sports.

Ballard, who has known Steve Kerr for over 20 years, recently wrote an article on Steve Kerr about his approach to leadership, titled The 25 Leadership Lessons of Steve Kerr, focusing on why Kerr has been successful as Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors, and also why in particular the team is still successful even when Kerr isn't around.

One of the key findings when writing that story, Ballard shares, is that Steve's only coaching experience before coaching the Warriors was when he coached his son Nick's youth team. When Ballard asked Nick's son Steve what his dad was like as a coach, Nick shared that there is no difference in the way that Steve coaches 7th graders and the way he coaches some of the best NBA players on the Warriors. This was particularly important to Ballard because if you can coach 7th and 8th graders the same way you coach professionals, there is something important in your coaching style that other coaches and leaders can learn from. It also indicates that youth coaches can apply aspects of Kerr's coaching style to their own teams.