Johnny Kerr

Johnny Kerr

Kerr coaching the Bulls in 1966
Personal information
Born	(1932-07-17)July 17, 1932 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 26, 2009(2009-02-26) (aged 76) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school	Tilden (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Illinois (1951–1954)
NBA draft	1954: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Syracuse Nationals
Playing career	1954–1966
Position	Center
Number	10, 43
Career history
As player:
1954–1965	Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
1965–1966	Baltimore Bullets
As coach:
1966–1968	Chicago Bulls
1968–1970	Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
As player: NBA champion (1955) 3× NBA All-Star (1956, 1959, 1963) Third-team All-American – AP, UPI, Look (1954) As coach: NBA Coach of the Year (1967) Chicago Bulls Ring of Honor
Career statistics
Points	12,480 (13.8 ppg)
Rebounds	10,092 (11.2 rpg)
Assists	2,004 (2.2 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

John Graham Kerr (July 17, 1932^[1] – February 26, 2009), also known as Red Kerr, was an American basketball player, coach and television color commentator who devoted more than seven decades to the sport. The affable 6'9", 230-pound center starred for the University of Illinois (1951-1954) before he became a three-time All-Star and one-time league champion in the NBA (1954-66), primarily as a member of the Syracuse Nationals.

Kerr was the first of the NBA iron men in the early years of the league. From 1954-1965, he played in 844 consecutive games, a record that stood for 18 years. Overall, he averaged 13.8 points and 11.2 rebounds in 905 games over 12 seasons, all except one with the Nationals (later the Philadelphia 76ers). Among the he most consistently effective big men in the league, he averaged in double figures in points and rebounds in seven consecutive seasons (1956-64) while in his prime.

After retirement as a player, Kerr held several coaching and administrative positions, most notably as the first head coach in Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns history. The Chicago native concluded his career as a Bulls television analyst for thirty-three years, during which he was one of the most recognizable personalities of the Bulls dynasty in the 1990s decade.

Early life

Kerr was raised in the 67th and Racine neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. He was a frequent 16-inch softball player at Ogden Park with aspirations of a career in foundry, in which he became proficient as a Tilden Technical High School student.

Although Kerr's first passion was soccer, an eight-inch growth spurt during his senior year at Tilden Tech coupled with some friendly persuasion from its head basketball coach Bill Postl and school principal Robert Lakemacher turned his attention to basketball. The pivotman led the Blue Devils to the 1950 Chicago Public League championship in his only season with the team.^[2][3]

College career

Upon graduation from high school in mid-year (January 1950), Kerr was 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, he made a visit to Champaign and quickly changed his mind.^[4] Always quick with a quip, Kerr became known for his self-deprecating humor. When asked about his introduction to Chaucer in college, Kerr said the two hadn't met yet, but he assumed they would at a fraternity party.

After committing to Illinois in the fall of 1950, Kerr played on the Fighting Illini men's basketball team|1950–51 Fighting Illini]] varsity team as a freshman. Not only would the team win the Big Ten championship, but it also earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, placing third.

The following season would see the two leading scorers, team MVP and captain Don Sunderlage (471 points) and Ted Beach (295 points), graduate. Despite their losses, 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 career

Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers (1954–1965)

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.

Baltimore Bullets (1965–1966)

On September 22, 1965, Kerr was traded to the Baltimore Bullets for Wali Jones. He averaged 11.0 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Bullets during the 1965–66 season. On May 1, 1966, 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

Chicago Bulls (1966–1968)

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.

Phoenix Suns (1968–1970)

Kerr signed 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 popular ex-Bulls guard Norm Van Lier suffered a fatal heart attack.^[15][16]

Honors

• 1952 – 2nd Team All-Big Ten
• 1952 – NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team
• 1952 – Honorable Mention All-American
• 1953 – 2nd Team All-Big Ten
• 1953 – Honorable Mention All-American
• 1953 – 1st Team All-Big Ten
• 1954 – 2nd Team All-American
• 1954 – Team Most Valuable Player ^[17]
• 1954 – Big Ten Player of the Year
• 1954 – Earned the Chicago Tribune's Silver Basketball award
• 1967 – Earned NBA Coach of the Year Award
• 1973 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.^[18][19]
• 2004 – Elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team".
• 2007 – Named one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament.^[20]
• 2008 – Honored as one of the 33 honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.
• 2018 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame^[21]

Career statistics

College

^[22]

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

All-Star Games

Head coaching record

See also

• List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

References

External links

• BasketballReference.com: Red Kerr (as player)
• BasketballReference.com: Red Kerr (as coach)