Comments (0) Best Local Sports Executive Who Should Go Back to Broadcasting - 2009
Steve Kerr, Phoenix Suns
We had such high hopes for Steve Kerr, even though he seemed to have lackluster interest in leaving the broadcast booth and serving as an NBA general manager from the start. The guy was almost always a winner when he wore NBA short pants, but we're not so sure he's got the stuff to be a successful suit. Fact is, it could be argued that he's run the Phoenix Suns into a boulder, with the short-lived Shaq acquisition from the Miami Heat, losing Mike D'Antoni to the Gotham Knicks, and hiring Terry Porter to replace him. Kerr wanted D'Antoni to stress defense and use his bench (both good things), but Kerr should've coughed up more management moxie to keep the proud coach around. Because what has followed has been a disaster.
The fast-paced Suns that D'Antoni fostered couldn't play the low-post game necessary to accommodate Shaq effectively, Terry Porter's hard-assed style grated on the out-of-synch team, and the Suns didn't make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Now Shaq's traded to the Cleveland Cavs, Porter's replaced by nurturing Coach Alvin Gentry, and all should be well, right? Well, yes, if Kerr could make some killer off-season moves to acquire at least one great complimentary player to Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, whose future is unsure because of health and contract issues.
So far, all Kerr's done during the break is re-sign aging journeyman Grant Hill and draft a possibly promising rookie. He and owner Robert Sarver seem content to floor a mediocre team for the foreseeable future, for budget reasons — fans be damned. Obviously, we're not all that thrilled with the tight-fisted Sarver, but we think it's time he put Kerr out to pasture or send him back to what he does best post-retirement as a player — swinging golf clubs. Time to find a professional GM who can put together the pieces to make the Suns a contender again.
