The Bulls will wear their red road uniforms for tonight’s home game against Detroit, and not because Valentine’s Day is near.
Rather, the change in dress code is to honor Johnny “Red” Kerr, one of the organization’s most beloved members.
The team will hold a halftime ceremony for Kerr and raise a banner with his name to the rafters.
"He's always been about Chicago and about the Bulls," studio analyst and former Bulls player Norm Van Lier said. "Along with Michael [Jordan], he's a guy who's really synonymous with the Bulls. He loves us all and we all love him back. It's great to have a chance to show him how much."
The sooner the better.
Kerr, 76, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and his health is said to be poor these days (he has been unavailable for interviews). Because of his condition, the Bulls last month moved up the ceremony in his honor from its originally-scheduled date in April.
Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Colangelo are among the luminaries who will attend tonight. NBA commissioner David Stern sent in a taped tribute for the man team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called “a Chicago Bulls icon.”
Kerr is deemed so iconic, in fact, that he soon will join Jordan as the organization’s only members to have statues in their honor outside the United Center.
Kerr – a successful player at Illinois in the early 1950s and with Syracuse, Philadelphia and Baltimore in the NBA through the mid-1960s – was the Bulls’ inaugural head coach in 1966.
He lasted only two seasons.
In 1975, he returned to the franchise as the color commentator for TV broadcasts. He stayed through last season, proudly noting he was there live for everything Jordan ever did on the court during his Bulls career.
That’s because Kerr, who played in 844 consecutive NBA games, never missed a broadcast assignment. Current play-by-play man Neil Funk will be the emcee tonight.
“Johnny is a great friend,” Funk said. “He’s a guy you could count on in so many ways – first of all to show up for work, even though he probably had his fair share of soar throats or colds, but also to liven up any situation he’s in with his wit and the great stories he’s lived through.”
On camera or off, Kerr never was the sort of old-timer who decried contemporary players or pop culture. His outlook was too bright, too optimistic.
Kerr has an iPod with Blink 182 songs on it. He has bragged about his karaoke and moonwalking skills.
“When you think of the Bulls, he’s one you automatically think about,” former Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. “And then when you get to know him and his personality and what a good time he is, you can’t help but be fond of him.”
Friends say Kerr, a widower with five kids and 10 grandchildren, is at peace emotionally.
“I’ve had a great life,” Kerr said a year ago. “People talk about what you would do differently if you could do it over. I can’t think of too many things I’d want to change.”
Distinguished: Tonight’s ceremony will be Kerr’s second prestigious honor in as many days.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday announced Kerr as the 2009 recipient of the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award honors coaches, players and contributors whose outstanding accomplishments have affected the game at any level.
“Mr. Kerr’s career contributions are the epitome of what the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award is meant to recognize,” Hall of Fame president and CEO John Doleva said. “There are few people who have committed their lifetime to the game as Johnny ‘Red’ Kerr has done.
“He has touched every facet of basketball and has done so with an unmatched passion, dedication, professionalism and respect for the game he loves.”