National Basketball Association

Steve Kerr pays tribute to Lute Olson after winning title

Published Jun. 17, 2015 12:53 p.m. ET

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TUCSON, Ariz. -- Just moments after Steve Kerr coached the Golden State Warriors past the Cleveland Cavaliers to win his sixth NBA title -- first as a coach -- he thanked his former college coach Lute Olson, then coaches Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, among others.

"I felt very honored to be mentioned with Pop and Phil," Olson said in a text to FoxSportsArizona.com early Wednesday morning.

Olson was the coach who brought the lightly recruited Kerr to Arizona in the early 1980s, only to  see him become one of the all-time Arizona favorites and one of the more successful NBA players in the long line of former Wildcats in the NBA.

Tuesday night, at least four former UA players had ties to the title, with Luke Walton and Bruce Fraser on the bench with Kerr. Fraser worked in player development. The other was Andre Iguodala, who was named the NBA Finals' most valuable player.

Iguodala, who became the first player to be named MVP while not starting every game, averaged 16.3 points, four assists and 5.8 rebounds in the Finals.  On Tuesday, he scored 25 points , had five rebounds and five assists.

"Andre did a super job of defending Lebron (James)," Olson said. "He was also outstanding on offense and on the boards. He was very deserving of the MVP."

And Olson said the Warriors were very deserving of the title title.

"Great team, very unselfish," he texted. "Steve and his staff did a great job of developing the offense and defense."

 Follow Steve Rivera on Twitter

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