Steve Kerr was sleeping in his dorm room at the University of Arizona in 1984 when, in the early morning hours, the phone rang. His father Malcolm Kerr, president of American University in Beirut, had been assassinated. A group of assailants gunned down Malcolm in an act of anti-American terrorism.
Steve's grandparents were missionaries who settled in Beirut. His father was born there, but taught around the world from France to Lebanon to Los Angeles.
Malcolm spoke fluent Arabic and took his family to live in Egypt. There, Steve played on rock courts and fell in love with the game of basketball.
"My family has a love for the region and its people," Kerr said. "And from my perspective, that's another painful part of the recent terrorist attacks. Over 99.9 percent of the Muslims are completely disgusted with what has happened. There are wackos out there. But some are American, some are French. Blaming all Arabic people is like blaming Americans for Timothy McVeigh."
When Malcolm was teaching at UCLA, Steve became the Bruins' ball boy and his basketball life began. He developed into a great shooter on a good high school team, but was seriously recruited by only one college -- Gonzaga. Kerr was disappointed, but made the trip to Spokane. On the visit, which was a NCAA violation, Kerr was schooled by Gonzaga's point guard in a pickup game -- John Stockton. Gonzaga coaches told Kerr that he was too slow to play Division I basketball and that maybe he should look at lower level schools.
Kerr was down, but didn't give up. In a summer league game in Los Angeles, he caught the eye of Fullerton scouts. They offered him a full scholarship, but Kerr set his sights higher -- University of Arizona. Coach Lute Olson and his wife Bobbi were watching Kerr in the summer league as well. For three days Kerr left messages for Olson, trying to see if a scholarship would be offered from Arizona. He didn't hear back, so Kerr verbally accepted the scholarship from Fullerton.
Olson wasn't sold on Kerr, but Mrs. Olson was. Bobbi Olson told her husband, "He'd be a good kid for the program."
When Steve told his father that his calls weren't returned, Malcolm took action.
"He asked me where I really wanted to go to school and I said Arizona," recalled Kerr. "So my dad got on the phone and eventually tracked down Lute."
With his wife's prodding and Malcolm Kerr's encouragement, Olson offered Steve a scholarship.
Then he began his freshman season when the tragedy struck -- his father was killed. Two nights after hearing of his father's death, Steve had a choice --to play or not to play. Steve made the choice to play and scored 15 points with tears in his eyes. And so his basketball life continued.
Kerr developed into a solid starter at Arizona. Then, as a member of the U.S. college All-Star team in the 1986 World Championships, he tore both his ACL and MCL in his right knee. Steve sat out a year to rehab. Then he returned to the team the following season to help Arizona to its first Final Four appearance.
During his senior season, Kerr saw sports fans at their ugliest. Before a game between Arizona and Arizona State, some ASU fans stood and chanted the unthinkable. "PLO, PLO. Where's your dad?"
Kerr was shocked and saddened. Afterward he referred to the fans as "the scum of the earth." But he got even that night the only way he knew how -- six consecutive 3-pointers and an Arizona victory.
Kerr was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the second round (50th pick overall) of the 1988 NBA Draft. His NBA accolades are well documented, from his clutch three-pointers to his Championship rings. Kerr won four straight NBA Championships from 1996-1999 (three with the Bulls, one with the Spurs). He has the highest career 3-point field goal percentage in NBA history at 45.9%. Kerr also holds the NBA single-season three-point percentage record at 52.4%.
Kerr was a key player for the Spurs early this season when their backcourt was riddled with injuries. With so much attention focused on Michael Jordan and David Robinson's retirements, hardly anyone has noticed that this probably will be Kerr's last season as well. Kerr realizes his days in an NBA uniform are numbered and is savoring every moment of this season.
"Every retired player I've ever met says the same thing: Play as long as you can. If you have a chance to play basketball for a living, you have to. It's the most amazing life. We're just a bunch of big kids out here playing ball every day. I don't want that to end. None of us do."
