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Orlando Magic: 10 stars you forgot played for the Magic

By Luke Duffy

CHICAGO, UNITED STATES: Rod Strickland (C) of the Washington Bullets falls in front of Scottie Pippen (L) and Steve Kerr (R) of the Chicago Bulls 27 April during the first half of game two of their first round playoff game at the United Center in Chicago, IL. AFP PHOTO Jeff HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, UNITED STATES: Rod Strickland (C) of the Washington Bullets falls in front of Scottie Pippen (L) and Steve Kerr (R) of the Chicago Bulls 27 April during the first half of game two of their first round playoff game at the United Center in Chicago, IL. AFP PHOTO Jeff HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Orlando Magic (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

7. Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr is a lot of things, and you likely know him from a variety of different places. He three championships with the Chicago Bulls. The head coach of the Warriors dynasty. Winning two more titles with the San Antonio Spurs, making him one of only three players to win a championship in consecutive seasons with two different organizations.

The hardcore out there may even remember the bleach blond bomber from his rookie season with the Phoenix Suns. But did you know he played in 47 games for the Magic? Even more intriguing, he joined from the Cavaliers midway through the 1992-93 season to join a nucleus of O’Neal, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott and Scott Skiles. So why wasn’t he kept around longer?

Related Story. 10 players who played for both the Lakers and Celtics. light

At the time Kerr was seen more as a traditional backup point guard, and not somebody who could get hot in a hurry from deep and who would do their best work off the ball while spotting up for open shots. The Magic needed more out of him, but 2.6 points per game on 25 percent shooting from 3-point range was not it.

If they’d kept him longer, and unlocked his true potential that we would see later in his career, then Kerr would have been extremely valuable for those Magic teams that would battle for a championship only a couple of years later. Instead, he was allowed to sign with the Bulls that summer and a skillset that was ahead of its time was allowed to walk out the door.

This is a case of the Magic not knowing what they had when they had it, and although Kerr was never going to be a franchise superstar, unlike many others who came through he didn’t need to be. They already had that in O’Neal, and simply letting him shoot more and handle the ball less, which is not what he was brought in to do, would have eventually made a huge difference.

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