Michael Jordan Once Punched His Own Teammate Steve Kerr In The Eye During a Heated Practice Session In 95-96

We all know the legendary stint of Steve Kerr, the head coach and still the leader of the Golden State Warriors. But few people know he was an important part of the Chicago Bulls in the 90s. He was actually a bench player for the Bulls led by Michael Jordan. He won 5 NBA championships as a player for two different teams. In fact, he won 4 NBA championships in a row.

Two years before Steve Kerr hit the series-clinching winning jumper in the 1997 NBA finals, he and Jordan had a brutal fight. In a training camp in 1995, it was a practice session where Phil Jackson had Steve Kerr marking Jordan and things escalated rather quickly. MJ fouled Kerr,? which irked him and he hit MJ in the chest, and MJ punched Steve in the eye in return.

?So one day at practice, Phil put Steve Kerr guarding me.? MJ narrated the incident in a snippet from The Last Dance. Steve Kerr continued, ?We were on opposite sides in a scrimmage. And he’s talking all kinds of trash and I’m pissed because you know we’re getting our ass kicked.?

MJ: ?Phil sensed my aggression. But he was trying to tone me down and he starts calling these ?ticket tech? fouls. Now I’m getting mad because for you to be protecting this guy, that’s not it’s not gonna help us when we play New York. It’s not gonna help us when we play these teams that are very physical. Next time he did it, I just hauled off. When I fouled Steve Kerr I said, now that?s a f****** foul.?

Steve: ?I have a lot of patience as a human being but I tend to snap at some point. Because I’m extremely competitive too. Just not really good enough to back it up usually. But I’m going, I’m gonna fight.?

MJ: ?He hauls off and hits me in the chest. And I just haul off and hit him right in the f****** eye. And Phil just throws me out of practice.?

This incident was cooled off by Phil Jackson once he took MJ out of that practice. However, this was not a personal fight which would linger on and hold back the Bulls. In fact the fight was when Steve had just joined the Bulls. It only had been around a couple of months and MJ and Kerr did not know each other well.

WATCH THIS STORY: Steve Kerr and other NBA players MJ ticked off.

On the other hand, MJ also admitted that he had not connected with his teammates that much after coming back from baseball. So the fight was a ?wake up? call for him. He understood he needed to understand his players and moderate his behavior a little for the betterment of the team. It was all done and dusted there and then as it seemed, because after all they were a part of a historic side.

Steve Kerr’s career and the impact of Michael Jordan

Off the bench, Steve Kerr would usually get about 23 minutes per game for the Bulls. From those 23 minutes, he averaged over 8 points per game. Jordan and Scottie Pippen mostly carried the team, but the Warriors head coach at the time had a pretty decent contribution in the 6 seasons he played with the Bulls.

Despite playing for 4 different franchises in 15 years in the league, playing besides Michael Jordan at the Bulls was his most successful years both in terms of trophies and individually.

Also read: ?I Owe Him Everything?: Steve Kerr Reveals How Michael Jordan Helped Him Become Successful

Clearly Jordan impacted Steve Kerr’s basketball in another way. He was always the type of player who would be quick in ball movement and help create space. His shooting was always decent and his game sense was immaculate. This reflects massively in the game Warriors have been playing over the years.?