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Jurgen Klopp jokingly ordered his Liverpool players to pay him as much attention as they paid Steve Kerr when the Golden State Warriors coach visited the Reds’ training ground.
Kerr won five NBA championships as a player and has been crowned a winner four times as a coach, with the Warriors defeating the Boston Celtics to claim victory in the 2022 NBA Finals.
The American also guided Golden State to 73 wins in the 2015-16 season, breaking the record for the most wins in an NBA campaign.
Kerr took the chance to visit Liverpool’s Kirkby base during his off-season, meeting the players and coaching staff after he watched over their training session.
While coaching methods and man-management styles may have been expected to be discussed, Klopp revealed no such conversations took place between the two top bosses.
“We didn’t have this kind of conversation, to be honest,” Klopp said, when asked if there was a coaching element to their talks. “We had a very private conversation.”
Klopp’s players, who play Newcastle United on Wednesday, were so awestruck in the presence of Kerr that their German boss hoped they could show as much interest when he addresses them.
“A fantastic guy. It was a pleasure to meet him,” Klopp said. “I took a picture when he spoke to a couple of the players and said to the boys, ‘If you looked one time as concentrated when I talk to you, it would be really cool’.
“I told him what we were doing. The training grounds for football and basketball look slightly different and he liked everything that he saw.
“The one moment I was really, really happy I didn’t become a basketball coach was when he said he has to do press every day. Wow. That would be a killer. But he has a four-month break.”
Klopp added: “He is one of the greatest in the game – absolutely outstanding. You can be seen as big as you want in public. Smart people stay still, are very grounded and are just good people. It was a real pleasure to meet them.”
