Westphal bolstered Kerr’s NBA career

Moments before sitting down Saturday afternoon for his Zoom call with reporters, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr learned that his friend and mentor, Paul Westphal, had died from brain cancer. He was 70.

“Today’s a very sad day,” Kerr said. “Paul was a tremendous coach, a tremendous player and just a really kind, decent man. I speak for our whole organization when I send condolences to the Westphal family.”

Kerr developed a friendship with Westphal during Kerr’s rookie season with the Suns. The No. 50 pick in the 1988 draft out of nearby Arizona, Kerr often played Westphal — head

coach Cotton Fitzsimmons’ lead assistant at the time — during postpractice pickup games.

It was a special opportunity for Kerr, who had grown up idolizing Westphal in the Los Angeles area. Some of Kerr’s earliest basketball memories are of watching Westphal’s USC teams duel UCLA. As Westphal blossomed into a fivetime NBA AllStar, Kerr followed closely.

Though Kerr was traded to the Cavaliers in September 1989 and only called Westphal a coach with the Suns for one season, he still considers Westphal an instrumental part of his early NBA career. Westphal helped Kerr believe he belonged in the league at a time when many were dismissing the Suns’ decision to draft him as a publicity stunt.

During team flights and dinners, Westphal complimented Kerr’s shooting range and educated him on the nuances of defending some of the league’s top guards. If not for the support of Westphal and others, Kerr might have flamed out of the NBA quickly, never emerging as one of the league’s best shooters and a fivetime champion.

“He was a really important figure in my early career, just giving me confidence and helping me figure out the league, and how I could make an impact,” Kerr said. “He was also a tremendous player in the Los Angeles area when I was really young. … He was one of the guys who came out of that city who inspired me. He’ll be missed.”