Johnny Kerr

John Graham Kerr (July 17, 1932[1] – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching and administrative positions before embarking on a thirty-three-year career as a television color commentator for the Chicago Bulls.

Johnny Kerr
Kerr coaching the Bulls in 1966
Personal information
Born(1932-07-17)July 17, 1932
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedFebruary 26, 2009(2009-02-26) (aged 76)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High schoolTilden (Chicago, Illinois)
CollegeIllinois (1951–1954)
NBA draft1954: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Syracuse Nationals
Playing career1954–1966
PositionCenter
Number10, 43
Career history
As player:
1954–1965Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
1965–1966Baltimore Bullets
As coach:
1966–1968Chicago Bulls
1968–1970Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points12,480 (13.8 ppg)
Rebounds10,092 (11.2 rpg)
Assists2,004 (2.2 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Playing career

High school

Although Johnny Kerr's first passion was soccer, an eight-inch growth spurt during his senior year at Tilden Technical High School, and some friendly persuasion from basketball Head Coach Bill Postl and school principal Robert Lakemacher, Kerr turned his attention to basketball. The 6' 9" center soon led his school's basketball team to the 1950 Chicago Public League Championship.[2][3] Kerr graduated mid-year from Tilden (January 1950) and was all set to attend Bradley in the fall; however, after a visit from Illini freshman Irv Bemoras, touting the benefits of playing for Harry Combes and the Fighting Illini, Kerr made a visit to Champaign and quickly changed his mind.[4]

College

After committing to Illinois in the fall of 1950, Kerr played on the freshman team for the 1950–51 season. As he played on the freshman team, the 1950-51 Fighting Illini varsity team would not only win the Big Ten Championship, they would also play in the NCAA tournament, placing third. Unfortunately for Kerr, the following season would see the two leading scorers, team MVP and captain Don Sunderlage (471 points) and Ted Beach (295 points), graduate.

Even with the loss of 766 points, the Illini picked up where they had left off making Kerr's sophomore season a huge success. He was named the starting center for the 1951-52 Fighting Illini and would lead the team to a Big Ten Conference Championship with a 12-2 conference record and a 22–4 record overall and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Illinois would defeat Dayton and Duquesne to earn a berth in the Final Four (only sixteen teams played in the tournament back then), but would lose to St. Johns, 61–59. They would defeat Santa Clara in the third place game. This was Illinois’ third Big Ten Championship and 20-game winning team within a four-year span and completed the season with a final AP ranking of No. 2 in the nation. Kerr would score a team-high 357 points in 26 games for an average of 13.7 points per game.

Kerr joined three other starters from the previous season on the 1952-53 Illini team; however, the team would not enjoy the same amount of success. The team would lose four conference games during the Big Ten season and finish at 18-4 overall with a conference record of 14–4, which would give them a second-place finish to National Champion Indiana. Kerr, on the other hand, would find his successes to be just as fruitful as the previous campaign. Kerr would score a team-high 386 points in 22 games for an average of 17.5 points per game while the team would finish the season with a final AP ranking of No. 11 in the nation.

Kerr's senior season was personally the best of his three varsity seasons; however, the team would be the least successful during the same time frame. The 1953-54 Illini would finish third in the Big Ten with a 10–4 record and an overall record of 17-5 and they would also finish the season with a final AP ranking of No. 19 in the nation. As for Kerr, for the third year in a row, he would lead the team in scoring by shattering Illinois’ single-season scoring record by tallying 556 points in just 22 games for a 25.3 points per game average. Over his three varsity seasons, Kerr scored 1,299 points giving him an overall average of 18.6 points per game. He was elected to the University of Illinois' "All-Century Team" in 2004.[5]

Professional basketball

In 1954, the Syracuse Nationals selected Johnny Kerr with the sixth overall pick of the NBA draft. During his first season (1954–55), Kerr averaged 10.5 points and 6.6 rebounds and helped the Nationals capture their first NBA Championship. He became a three-time All-Star (1956, 1959, 1963) with the Nationals, despite playing in the shadow of future Hall-of–Famer Dolph Schayes.

In 1963, the Nationals relocated to Philadelphia and became known as the 76ers. Two years later, Kerr was traded to the Baltimore Bullets for Wali Jones. After averaging 11.0 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Bullets during the 1965–66 season, Kerr was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1966 NBA Expansion Draft. However, Kerr voluntarily retired so that he could become the coach of his hometown's new basketball team. He ended his career on November 4, 1965, with a 108–107 loss to New York, with respectable totals of 12,480 points and 10,092 rebounds, along with the NBA record for most consecutive games played (844) until 1983 when he was surpassed by Randy Smith.[6]

Coaching career

Kerr is credited with bringing Jerry Sloan to the Chicago Bulls.[7] The team went 33–48 in 1966–1967 and became the first expansion team to make the playoffs in its inaugural season. For this accomplishment, Kerr was awarded the NBA Coach of the Year Award. He is also the only coach to receive this award after his team finished with a losing record. The Bulls went 29-53 the following season, rallying from a 1–15 start to earn another playoff berth. However, feuds with team owner Dick Klein forced Kerr to leave the Bulls during the summer of 1968 and sign with the Phoenix Suns, another expansion team in need of its first coach. Unfortunately, the Suns finished with a 16–66 record in 1968–69, and after starting the 1969–70 season with a 15–23 record, Kerr was forced to resign.

Broadcasting career

Despite resigning as coach, Kerr stayed with the Suns franchise for the remainder of the 1969–70 season, working as a broadcaster with Hot Rod Hundley. He spent the next two seasons as a business manager with the ABA's Virginia Squires,[8] then returned to the Chicago Bulls to work in their front office. In 1975, the Bulls' play-by-play announcer, Jim Durham, suggested that Kerr provide commentary during games,[9] and Kerr remained as a color commentator until the end of the 2007–08 season.[10]

As a broadcaster, Kerr oversaw the Bulls' six championships in the 1990s and Michael Jordan's entire career with the team. He was known for making the call on "The Shot", Jordan's series-winning basket in Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 Eastern Conference Playoffs. Over the years, Kerr and Jordan developed a pre-game ritual in which Jordan would head to the broadcasting area and playfully clap talcum powder in front of Kerr.[11] Jordan later said, "I don't know how it started. I think he had a nice suit on and I wanted to mess him up a little."[12]

Kerr made occasional appearances as a halftime commentator during the first half of the 2008–09 season, but struggles with prostate cancer gradually limited his involvement.[13] The Bulls honored Kerr for his years of service at a February 10, 2009, halftime ceremony, where the team unveiled a sculpture of Kerr that would stand in the United Center. At the ceremony, Kerr also received the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Jerry Colangelo. February 10, 2009, was declared Johnny Red Kerr Appreciation Day in the city of Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley.[14]

Death

Kerr died of prostate cancer on February 26, 2009, only hours after the death of fellow Bulls legend Norm Van Lier.[15][16]

Honors

Career statistics

College
Season Games Points PPG Field Goals Attempts Avg Free Throws Attempts Avg Big Ten
Record		 Overall
Record		 Highlight
1951–52 26 357 13.7 143 365 .392 71 124 .573 12–2 22–4 Honorable Mention All-American
1952–53 22 386 17.5 153 397 .385 80 123 .650 14–4 18–4 Honorable Mention All-American
1953–54 22 556 25.3 210 520 .404 136 213 .638 10–4 17–5 Big Ten Player of the Year
Totals 70 1229 18.6 506 1282 .395 287 460 .624 36–10 57–13

[22]

NBA
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1954–55† Syracuse 7221.2.419.6826.61.110.5
1955–56 Syracuse 7229.4.403.6558.41.213.3
1956–57 Syracuse 7230.4.403.71911.21.312.4
1957–58 Syracuse 7233.1.399.66413.41.215.2
1958–59 Syracuse 7237.1.441.76614.02.017.8
1959–60 Syracuse 7531.6.392.75212.22.214.7
1960–61 Syracuse 7933.9.397.72912.02.513.4
1961–62 Syracuse 8034.6.443.73514.73.016.3
1962–63 Syracuse 8032.0.474.75313.02.715.7
1963–64 Philadelphia 8036.7.429.75112.73.416.8
1964–65 Philadelphia 8022.6.370.6966.92.58.2
1965–66 Baltimore 7124.9.413.7688.33.211.0
Career 90530.7.418.72311.22.213.8

Playoffs
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1954–55† Syracuse 1133.0.391.55710.71.213.8
1955–56 Syracuse 826.6.481.4558.51.311.1
1956–57 Syracuse 532.4.431.69013.81.215.2
1957–58 Syracuse 338.7.327.77820.31.016.7
1958–59 Syracuse 934.7.352.90912.02.714.4
1959–60 Syracuse 334.7.294.9178.33.013.7
1960–61 Syracuse 826.3.341.69612.42.59.5
1961–62 Syracuse 538.6.376.75016.02.017.6
1962–63 Syracuse 537.4.433.76215.01.813.6
1963–64 Philadelphia 537.0.482.75013.83.219.0
1964–65 Philadelphia 1116.5.358.7143.52.55.7
1965–66 Baltimore 316.3.182.5005.71.31.7
Career 7629.9.386.68710.92.012.3

All-Star Games
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1955–56 Syracuse 116.0.500.0008.00.04.0
1958–59 Syracuse 121.0.214.5009.02.07.0
1962–63 Syracuse 111.0.0001.0002.01.02.0

Head coaching record
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Chicago 1966–67 813348.4074th in Western Conference303.000 NBA Coach of the Year
Chicago 1967–68 822953.3544th in Western Conference514.200 Resigns from Bulls
Phoenix 1968–69 821666.1957th in Western Conference---- Suns inaugural season
Phoenix 1969–70 381523.3954th in Western Conference---- Fired after 38 games
Total 28393190.329817.125

See also

References
  1. Brian Hanley. "Johnny Kerr". Chicago Sun-Times. May 14, 1990. 105.
  2. SunTimesHighSchoolSports.com
  3. BasketballMuseumOfIllinois.com
  4. A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pgs.268-270 ISBN 1-58261-793-7
  5. FightingIllini.com
  6. JustSportsStats.com
  8. "NBA.com Broadcaster of the Week: Johnny Kerr, Chicago Bulls". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  9. Jim O'Donnell. "What Chicago is all about Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine". Chicago Sun-Times. February 8, 2009. Retrieved on February 11, 2009
  10. Ed Sherman. "Bulls shake up broadcast teams. Chicago Tribune. May 6, 2008. Retrieved on May 6, 2008.
  11. Brett Ballantini. "A Love Supreme: Acknowledgement Archived February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine". SLAM Online. January 30, 2009. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.
  12. John Jackson. "Jordan, others thrilled to honor Kerr Archived 2009-02-15 at the Wayback Machine". Chicago Sun-Times. February 11, 2009. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.
  13. Peter Vescey. "Young star making his mark on the Lakers". New York Post. January 23, 2009. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.
  14. Melissa Isaacson. "Johnny 'Red' Kerr honored by Bulls Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine". Chicago Tribune. February 11, 2009. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.
  15. "Bulls mourn the loss of Johnny "Red" Kerr". NBA.com. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  16. "Sad day for Bulls: Van Lier, Kerr die". STLtoday. February 27, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  17. "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  18. IBCA Hall of Fame
  19. BasketballMuseumOfIllinois.com
  20. 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament
  21. Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame
  22. Sports-Reference.com
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