SAN FRANCISCO — It’s easy to paint Steve Kerr as a sentimentalist, the championship coach with the magic touch and a moral compass to boot.
But he’s been on the business side of at least one abrupt ending to an incredible run, then found himself decades later trying to complete a mission the Boston Celtics could never reach the finish line on.
In 1992, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Celtics engaged in a seven-game slugfest for the right to play the defending champion Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals. For the Cavaliers, a trip to the NBA’s final four represented breaking through after years of knocking.