Warriors’ Steve Kerr back on sideline, will coach Game 2
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr is back.
Kerr will coach from the bench during Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Golden State leads the series 1-0 after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-91.
Kerr has not coached from the bench since the second game of the first round of the playoffs due to pain associated with complications from back surgery. With Mike Brown as acting head coach, the Warriors have gone 11-0. They also won the first two games of the first round, which Kerr coached.
“I just think the numbers are totally deceiving,” Kerr quipped. “You can talk, like, 15-0 or whatever he did, but the team was just falling apart at the seams, and so I just had to get back to make sure we righted the ship.
“No, Mike is perfect, he’s perfect as my right-hand man. He’s such a good coach and a good person. And the way he’s handled this whole thing is incredible, just the humility and yet the confidence with which he took the reins. Players appreciate him, the staff does, I certainly do. He’s an amazing guy and lucky to have him.”
It’s not the first time Kerr has needed to step aside from the bench. During the 2015-16 season, current Lakers coach Luke Walton was an assistant for Kerr and coached 43 games, going 39-4. Kerr returned to lead the Warriors to another Western Conference championship and a second consecutive appearance in the Finals. Walton attended Game 1 of this year’s Finals, and watched with Kerr in the coaches’ locker room.
It was the same back issue that sidelined him previously. Kerr was not pain free at any point during the regular season.
“I feel like it’s back where it was before the Portland series,” Kerr said. “And as I told you guys, when I stepped aside in Portland, I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why things got worse. But since that time, and it’s probably been, I don’t know, five, six weeks, I’ve gotten a lot better and I feel like I’m back to the baseline of where I was during the regular season when I coached every game.”
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