EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, 15 June 2003 — Steve Kerr knows exactly what his role is with San Antonio Spurs.

“I come in, I play six minutes, I make a couple of shots and then I come do interviews in the interview room,” joked Kerr. “I have the greatest job in the world.”

The 15-year veteran with four championship rings was on the job on Friday, coming in late in Game Five of the NBA final, draining a couple of clutch three-pointers to help snuff out a New Jersey Nets rally.

The Spurs claimed a 93-83 win to leave them with a 3-2 series lead and on the brink of claiming their second crown in five years.

“I have people ahead of me who are better players than I am, that’s just the truth,” said Kerr, who collected three championship rings with the Chicago Bulls and another one with the Spurs in 1999.

“We won 60 games, we are in the finals and one game away from winning the whole thing.

“My role is what it is. If they need me I’ll be ready and if not then I’m fine with that.”

One of the best three-point shooters the NBA has ever seen, Kerr has made a career of coming off the bench and making clutch shots like he did for the Bulls and like he did in Western Conference finals two weeks ago against the Dallas Mavericks in the deciding Game Six.

An unimposing figure and an unassuming person, Kerr has fashioned an unlikely living on the perimeter of the basketball, possessed with an uncanny ability to drain those nerve-rattling three-pointers that win games and championships.

If the Spurs win Game Six on Friday or Game Seven, if necessary Wednesday, the 37-year-old guard will have a ring for each finger — more than many of the game’s greatest players and Hall of Famers.

He is the type of player that coaches and fellow players want on their team, one who knows how to win. “Steve is just incredible, he’s the definition of a veteran,” said Tim Duncan, the Spurs leader and two-time league MVP. “The guy is always ready to go. He doesn’t play for games in a row, then his number is called and he’s ready to go.”