Steve Kerr Recalled Controversial Trade As Suns GM After Mavs' Luka Doncic Fallout

Kerr traded Shawn Marion for Shaq in 2008 when he was the Phoenix Suns' general manager.

Golden State Warriors head coach Kerr watches his team from the sidelines during the second half against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. / Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Steve Kerr feels Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison's pain. He was once in the same shoes.

Kerr was the Phoenix Suns' GM from 2007 to '10. He had a small ownership stake in the franchise until he became the Golden State Warriors' coach in 2014. Even with four NBA championships under his belt since he took the helm in Golden State, he still remembers a controversial move he made, and the backlash that followed, from his time in Phoenix.

In 2008, the Suns traded beloved star Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat in exchange for a 35-year-old Shaquille O'Neal. Marion, who is six years younger, was a big domino to fall as Phoenix remade their roster.

If that sounds eerily similar, it's because Harrison recently shook the NBA world when he decided to trade the Mavs' franchise player, Luka Doncic, to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package centered around Anthony Davis. Doncic, 25, is six years younger than Davis.

The public outcry, a lot of which has been targeted at Harrison, continues to reverberate. ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported on Feb. 7 that Harrison has been subjected to death threats. A Dallas Police official later said they weren't aware of any credible threats according to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Still, fans protested outside of the American Airlines Center to make their feelings about the trade known and call for Harrison's job.

Kerr addressed the trade and the fallout that followed, speaking from his personal experience having gone through a similar situation.

"I generally never really like to comment on other team's trades," Kerr said to reporters via Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. "So I don't think I'll talk about it in terms of what Dallas did. ... I have been following the stuff with the fans. Death threats for Nico, I mean it's brutal. It's really sad and you kind of feel for everybody because this is a very emotional business and it's what drives the business. The fans obviously love this stuff and if you're a Mavs fan and you're heartbroken, that's really difficult to handle. ... Seeing Nico go through stuff that he shouldn't have to go through, it's all really surreal."

Steve Kerr on recent events in Mavsville.
Says it was disconcerting to see reports of death threats for Nico Harrison. Kerr later said as Suns GM he once got death threats after making a Shawn Marion for Shaq trade. pic.twitter.com/SxfABVOncQ

— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) February 13, 2025

Kerr received backlash after he traded Marion, too, which included death threats, he said.

"I traded Shawn Marion for Shaq and I got death threats," Kerr said via MacMahon and ESPN. "Emailed death threats. Our security in Phoenix looked into it and I was never overly concerned. I took it for what it was, which was an angry fan typing away. But it's still pretty disconcerting when someone threatens your life, so I feel for Nico.

"This is a tough enough business as it is. Everybody has to make difficult decisions. Everybody is emotional but there has to be a line that exists and that one was clearly crossed."

Steve Kerr on the most controversial trade he made during his stint as Suns GM: “I traded Shawn Marion for Shaq and I got death threats.”

Those threats were investigated by team and NBA security. pic.twitter.com/RnHUx8TLY5

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 13, 2025

Kerr noted through MacMahon that he went through team and league security to investigate the threats, which is likely the process Harrison funneled through in Dallas to navigate the current situation.

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