Steve Kerr is all too familiar with dynasties in sports.
He was a member of the legendary Chicago Bulls squads from 1993-98 and the San Antonio Spurs championships in 1999 and 2003.
Fast forward 20 years and Kerr now finds himself on the sidelines as coach of one of the greatest basketball dynasties since those Bulls.
Kerr went as far as to tell the 2018-19 Golden State Warriors to enjoy the ride, a message similar to Phil Jackson’s “Last Dance” message for the 1997-98 Bulls.
“To be honest [the documentary] is just confirmation of what I was saying to our team all of last year and 2018,” said Kerr to ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
“The whole messaging for the year was based on my experience with Chicago and feeling that level of fatigue [and] emotional toll that had been over the previous four years……. And so watching this now is just a reminder of how difficult it is to sustain that kind of run.”
That point hit home last year when the Warriors fell to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals.
It is fair to say, however, that his team was more banged up than the 1998 Bulls were in their series.
Warriors GM Bob Meyers also chimed in on how hard it is to sustain a run like this.
“Winning and doing it all together is really hard,” Meyers said.
“And maintaining relationships is hard……. There’s a lot more ways for it to come apart than keep it together.”
Meyers has not had the misfortune of being blamed for the team’s breakup as Bulls GM Jerry Krause did.
Nonetheless, the Warriors look to recapture the magic of those championship years in the 2020-21 season.
With Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry coming back from injuries, there should be enough in place to be competitive again.
Despite the departure of Kevin Durant, the Warriors have plenty of pieces returning from their core to make another run.
Luckily for Steve Kerr, his team won’t endure a drastic fall off as the Bulls did.