#Book Report: Steve Kerr, a Life
A few years back, someone told me: Keep an eye on that Steve Kerr basketball coach guy; he could be governor one day. Thus did I, not really a sports guy, find myself reading a sports biography. People who disagree with Kerr mutter that he should keep his opinions on world events to himself and concentrate on basketball. It turns out world events have intruded on his life since the beginning. I was not expecting a Yasser Arafat cameo in a basketball story. The book also touches on a possible reason Kerr got into the habit of talking to the press back when he was starting out in sports—alongside participating in sports, back in high school, he was a reporter for his high school newspaper. Thus he probably had some sympathy for sports writers and a sense for which tidbits their readers wanted. (This was when he attended high school in Pacific Palisades, yes, the place that burned down a few months ago, including one of Kerr's childhood homes. But that happened after the events in this book. Anyhow.)
I learned a fair amount. Maybe if I were more of a sports guy, I would have gotten it all from reading, say, Kerr's Wikipedia article. He played with the Orlando Magic and didn't do much; from there he went to Chicago and was suddenly doing a lot more. Probably a basketball expert could look at that and say, well of course, it's not like players are just bad or good; you have to consider how well their skill set meshes with the kind of play the coach encourages. This book helped me understand how that could happen, and I appreciate it. I bet that kind of experience helped Kerr to be a better coach and manager, seeking out players who were skilled, and specifically skilled in areas that would fit the Warriors style.
I dunno if he'll be governor. He could have retired to surf all day. Instead, he became a coach. Was that because of world-spanning ambition? This book makes the case: Kerr missed the camaraderie of being on an NBA team. I can't imagine swapping that for the, uhm, camaraderie of hanging around with a bunch of pols. But who knows what the future will bring; not me.
ICYMI: Eric Carle's "The Tiny Seed" read aloud showcases his distinctive collage 
For young readers and budding botanists: 
