Steve Kerr appeared on the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons and had some interesting things to say. Feel free to head over to ESPN and spend an hour with Bill and Steve or read the highlights below:

On Ron Artest’s game-winning put-back in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals…

I wake up at night still thinking about that rebound — I mean, why didn’t it just hit the rim, and taken a normal bounce. I’ve thought about the game constantly, but as far as how that would have impacted my job, I haven’t looked at it that way.

On Ron Artest…

He was fantastic in the last couple of games of the Finals. I just think that Artest is one of the strangest players in the league because in a normal environment, in a normal game, sometimes he doesn’t look that great. He doesn’t make shots, he takes bad shots, he makes weird decisions, but when the game becomes kind of a street fight, especially like Game 7 of the Finals, there’s nobody you’d rather have. He’s just so strong and physical. And like that play he made against us in Game 6 — or Game 5 I guess it was — he just seems to have a knack for coming up with the loose ball, the rebound, whatever it is. He’s a crafty player, he really is.

On whether or not Amare Stoudemire is worth $100 million…

I was on the same page with Robert [Sarver, the owner of the Suns], with our management. We talked about it all year long. We really wanted him back, but if the price was too much though, then it didn’t make sense. And the main reason was because of the injuries. He’s had four knee surgeries, including a microfracture. You’ve seen what’s happened over the last few years with guys like Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal — the guys who come out of high school and play huge minutes right away. Their clock ticks a lot faster and they get to 29, 30, and they really start to slow down. I think you’ve even seen it a little bit with KG and Kobe last year although both guys really turned it on in the playoffs. But because of that, with Amare, I think he’s got a few really good years left in him. You know, years four, five and six though, if he can’t go and can’t produce, now you’re really tied up and locked down with a bad contract and that can be a major problem.

On the Knicks’ current predicament…

I agreed with the plan to wipe the slate clean and to get a fresh start — get rid of all of those bad contracts. The one decision they made that I think may haunt them is the Jared Jeffries trade to clear that last $7 million of room. Because in effect, they may have given away two lottery picks if they don’t play well the next two years, and that could crush them. Because those picks are huge — you get a great player on a rookie contract, it’s enormous.

On how Kobe Bryant compares to Michael Jordan…

Kobe’s probably more skilled, as a jump shooter for sure. Michael didn’t have that kind of three-point range. As a ball handler, probably a little more skilled than Michael was. I think the advantage Michael had was probably physically he was much stronger. He had more of a sheer physical force. And remember, he played in an era where you could put two hands on a guy and maul him and he still did everything he did. Jordan with the rules these days — I don’t know how anyone could even come close to guarding him.

On LeBron’s work ethic…

I don’t know him personally. I do agree with him that his post game could be much better. His shot selection could be better. We’re getting picky here obviously. He has the potential to get better. I mentioned one area, which was kind of moving without the ball and becoming more efficient, and you mentioned the other one, which is getting a go-to move on the block. He is about 270 (lbs.), I think. 6’7″ maybe, I don’t know. If he did have a go-to move on the block, I don’t think there’s anything you can do.

On almost trading Amare to the Warriors for the right to draft Stephen Curry…

We were pretty close. We had something lined up with Golden State where we were going to trade Amare for the pick, Biedrins, Wright and Bellinelli, something like that. The reason was — there was no secret that we were probably going to lose him at the end of the year, and he had come off what was a sub par year for him. We loved Curry coming out of the draft. We had him I think third on the board, so we didn’t even think he’d be there at #7. But we thought he would be Nash’s eventual replacement and kind of our cornerstone point guard for years to come. We had negotiated it. It was something that they were really seriously considering, but they ended up pulling out in the end.

On Danny Ferry…

I think Danny is really, really good. He’s thorough and smart. I think Cleveland was almost held hostage for the last five years, ever since the LeBron contract situation began. They had to constantly prove to him that they were going to everything possible to win a title, and that probably forced their hand into some bad signings, and into some other sort of compromising situations that were tough to deal with. But I think Danny Ferry is a top notch GM.

I’ve always thought that Kerr was a thoughtful, well-spoken guy and had high hopes for his tenure as Suns GM. He got off to a rocky start when the Shawn Marion-Shaq trade blew up in his face, but he recovered and quietly put together a 2009-10 Suns roster that had tremendous chemistry and talent. Had they been able to secure that Kobe airball in Game 5, there’s a good chance they would have gone to the Finals, but it wasn’t to be.

Kerr made a point to (twice) mention his interest in getting back into the GM game in four or five years, when his kids are older, and if I owned a team, I’d definitely keep Kerr and that timeframe in the back of my mind.