Steve Kerr Reveals One Stephen Curry Trait That Michael Jordan Doesn’t Possess Amid NBA’s Biggest Debate

Steve Kerr had the privilege to see two players who defined two different generations up close. So he’s an expert in pointing out the difference. Among a total of eight NBA championships in his lifetime, Kerr has learnt a few things about himself. He knows he and Michael Jordan are two very different kinds of people. And though he’s also one of the finest 3-point shooters in NBA history, he’s a lot different than Stephen Curry. Yet he’s the only one who can testify there’s something Curry has that MJ didn’t.

Now we know what they say about the Jordan-Curry comparisons. They’re fundamentally different types of guards. Jordan wasn’t the type to shoot beyond the arc if he could help it. He was also the type to find his opponent’s open nerve and pick it. For every missed shot, he came back stronger. Then there’s Steve Kerr, who hit the game winner that won the Bulls the 1997 championship. He’s the type who could miss a shot and sleep at night.

“I never ever really felt comfortable in that spot. What I finally learned to do was to write ‘FI’ on my shoe and just say ‘f–k it’ and and uh and let it fly,” Kerr said on The Glue Guys podcast this Friday. That, he says sets him apart from two superstars he’s seen up close. “Steph and Michael, like they couldn’t wait for that, you know? They couldn’t wait for that moment, whereas, you know, you [Shane Battier] and I were, ‘oh s–t, here we go.'”

Kerr talked about his mindset as a role-player and how he grew into it without an ego. That’s why Shane Battier had to ask about the Paris Olympics when Steph Curry was seemingly laid back until the medal games against Serbia and France. In a star-studded roster, Curry didn’t hesitate to run a play, go for the ball, and prove why he’s The Chef.

It’s for that reason, Coach Kerr dubbed him, “Stephan ‘Motherf—ing’ Curry.” Because why not! Superstars like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Durant were deferring to and trusting Curry’s playmaking abilities. Kerr has been in that place and seen that mindset when he was on the Bulls squad.

“Michael had a similar mindset,” Kerr said what we already know. He, however, eloquently pointed a subtle difference between Jordan and Curry’s mindsets. “Michael’s mindset appeared to be more out of a desire to kill the opponent, to just stick the knife in and twist it. And Steph’s is more the joy of the act of shooting a ball.”

And some favoritism showed, when Kerr leaned towards one guard more than the other.

Stephen Curry got the edge over Michael Jordan

Stephen Curry finally got his Team USA nod in the 2024 Olympics. However, initially fans didn’t find his performance satisfactory. Who would’ve thought he was saving his well-known abilities for the main games? He looked borderline unguardable during the gold medal deciding game against the host, France led by the then reigning NBA RoTY and DPOY winners.

As Battier described, it was a ‘everyone remembers where they were’ moment when Curry swung the ball behind his back and hit the three-pointer that warranted the first ‘Night-Night’ celebration of the Olympics. It’s exactly the spectacle Kerr expects from Curry over Jordan.

“And that’s what makes it so beautiful to watch Steph. It’s like he’s an artist out there and he loves what he does so much and there’s this flow and this grace and beauty combined with this incredible competitive desire and confidence to just take every shot and um and not worry about the repercussions,” Kerr said this time.

Though it’s not a new opinion from him. He recalls Michael Jordan as a more “boisterous” leader. It’s supported by incidents like MJ provoking Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley, John Paxson, and others in practice to beat him. He’s famously the ‘jerk’ teammate who made them better and Kerr didn’t mind that.

Curry contrastingly comes off as less competitive in comparison. Kerr though claims Jordan and Curry have the same work ethic and drive to get better. And we really can’t argue with the guy who’s seen it happen.