Basketball has evolved in ways that still blow our minds. Forget the 70s or 80s—just take a look at the 90s or early 2000s. The difference is striking. For Steve Kerr, coaching stars like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson revealed just how much the game has evolved. After all, the past shapes the future. But what if the past wasn’t quite what we thought it was?

Coach Kerr got to experience the best of both worlds. Now, you might wonder, how? He played alongside the greatest Michael Jordan in the late 90s. He won a total of 5 championships with the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs in the late 90s and early 2000s. Then as the Head Coach of the Warriors, the 59-year-old shook up the NBA scenes and set up his dynasty winning 4 titles for the Bay Area.

However, during his playing days, his coaches lied to him about shooting. It’s surprising to even wonder that Kerr came from a staunch belief and eventually got to nurture two of the greatest shooters in the league’s history. Let’s see what his coaches told Steve Kerr.

After his myth-buster moment, Steve Kerr reflects on how coaching beliefs have evolved in the modern NBA

Back when the three-point line wasn’t a big deal, the head coaches of teams didn’t prefer their players to take early shots. Therefore, when Steve Kerr ever went in for an early shot or as we call it a three-pointer his coaches would say “It’s a bad shot. You can always get that shot.”

Speaking to the media ahead of the important match-up vs. the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, Coach Kerr shared how the whole three-point shot myth debunked itself before his eyes. Steve Kerr confessed: “What we’ve learned in the modern NBA is they were all lying. All my coaches lied to me. Coaches across the country were saying the same thing. ‘You can always get that shot.'” Kerr added: “Now the difference is without a three-point line you know, back then to let my coaches off the hook, and all those coaches back then. When the three-point line wasn’t as big of a deal they might have been right. You could get a late-clock shot or a long-range shot. But it wasn’t worth three.”

In the present NBA scenes, 3-pointers are game-changers. The more shots you take, the better. However, 25-26 years ago, it would’ve been considered lousy to take an early shot. Go, make your way to the rim. Dive in. Dunk. Get that hammer. But now, things have surely changed. Talk about evolution!

The Golden State Warriors HC continued: “So now that the three-point line is such a big deal the shot you want is the early three in transition or layup in transition. All the numbers show that the first eight seconds or points per possession across the league for every team is dramatically higher than the last eight. So playing with pace has huge advantages. The main one is defense. Just can’t get set up.” The three-pointers are indeed the real deal now.

And guess who’s revolutionized the NBA around those early shots in transition? Steve Kerr himself. No, not as a player, but as the coach of the King of three-pointers, Stephen Curry. And well, Curry’s Splash Bro, Klay Thompson also played an important in changing the truth for HC Kerr.

When did Coach Kerr’s mindset shift?

When Steve Kerr took the reins of the Warriors in 2014, he came with the belief that long-range shots weren’t effective. But he did have a moment of enlightenment. He realized that early shots were the right ones if he wanted to break through his rivals’ defense and score. When did the revelation unravel?

“When I started coaching Steph Curry and Klay Thompson,” Steve Kerr told the media. Well, surely we don’t have to say who is the All-Time three-point scorer in the NBA’s history and who stands 6th on the list. Both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson refined the the 59-year-old NBA veteran’s mindset for the good. He added: “It took me a little while because that had been ingrained in my head forever.”

“But a couple of months after I was coaching those guys I realized I’m on the bench. And, I’m going ‘Man that’s a lousy shot from Steph.’ It’s like, ‘Oh yeah but he’s shooting 43% on that shot and they’re three-point shots.’ Points per possession way up. So those are good shots.” So, here again, we’ve got to thank Stephen Curry for Kerr’s eye-opening moment! If it hadn’t been for the Davidson graduate and his ‘partner-in-crime’ Captain Klay, we might have remained stuck in the 90s era. Watching the same old style of gameplay.

After 26 years, Steve Kerr realized early shots are the key to winning. The modern-day NBA demands pace, and three-pointers are the ones for the change. And with the greatest shooter of all time, Steph Curry by his side, doing the impossible has never been too difficult. Isn’t it?