Absent, but still making his mark
SALT LAKE CITY — During the Warriors’ Monday evening bus ride to Vivint Smart Home Arena, Mike Brown reviewed the plan for Game 4 over the phone with Steve Kerr.
Kerr, who is out indefinitely with chronic pain stemming from back surgery nearly two years ago, stressed the importance of Golden State protecting the ball and staying focused defensively. Before hanging up, he reminded Brown — the Warriors’ acting head coach in Kerr’s absence — that he was offering only suggestions, not directives.
“The neat part about it is that he always ends every conversation with, ‘Mike, you’re there, and I’m not there. You’ve got to make decisions about which direction you want to go with the
team,’ ” Brown said after Golden State’s sweep-capping 121-95 win Monday over Utah in the Western Conference semifinals. “I couldn’t ask for anything better, because he’s a great sounding board.”
Kerr’s mark on the franchise extends beyond the selfless, family-oriented environment he has established. Since stepping away from the bench before Game 3 of the first round April 22, his insights and support have helped fuel the Warriors to four-game sweeps in the first two rounds.
It is a continuation of the egalitarian style that, in addition to loaded rosters, made Kerr the fastest coach in professional sports history to win 200 games. Even when he was around the team daily, he made a point to empower everyone from assistants to players to trainers. Now, as he serves more as consultant than coach, Kerr navigates a tricky role: shepherding his team from afar without infringing on the responsibilities of the people who are there.
“It’s a little unorthodox because he’s not physically here,” general manager Bob Myers said. “But believe me, his voice is heard. His presence is felt.”
For more than a week, Kerr has missed team meetings, shootarounds and practices to try to find an answer to the debilitating head and neck pain that has plagued him since he first underwent back surgery in July 2015. He underwent a corrective spinalcord-leak procedure Friday at Duke University, and there is still no timetable for his return to the bench.
Being away from the Warriors has taken its toll on Kerr. Though a master at keeping his struggles to himself, he is the same fiery competitor who has shattered multiple whiteboards within the past year.
“Obviously, he’s pissed off that he’s not here,” forward Draymond Green said. “He states that every opportunity that he gets.”
Staying as actively involved with the team as possible has provided Kerr a much-appreciated distraction from his doctor appointments. Several times, he watched each of the six games he missed, jotting down notes as he stopped and started the video.
At least once or twice a day, Kerr has voiced his thoughts over the phone to Brown. Most of the conversations have centered around different types of messages to relay to players. At times, Kerr offers advice on how to manage the rotation or approach certain defenses.
Before Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, he suggested that Golden State attack Utah center and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Rudy Gobert one-on-one. In Game 3, with his team desperate to find an offensive spark, Brown leaned on that bit of advice.
The Warriors repeatedly isolated Kevin Durant at the top of the key, spread three other players away from the action and sent whomever Gobert was guarding — Zaza Pachulia, Andre Iguodala or JaVale McGee — up to set a screen. With Gobert — the league’s top interior defender — lured away from the rim, Durant thrived on a mix of jumpers, floaters and layups. Nearly half of his game-high 38 points resulted from this strategy.
Kerr noticed while reviewing video of that Game 3 win that, after an up-tempo first quarter, Golden State had given into Utah’s more methodical style. Before Game 4 on Monday, he told Green — a primary ball-handler — over the phone to keep ratcheting up the pace.
In the third quarter, after the Jazz trimmed a 24-point, first-half deficit to seven, Green continued to speed up the tempo. It wasn’t long before a thin Utah team wore down and surrendered a game-changing run to the Warriors.
“We’re really not feeling like (Steve) isn’t here,” Pachulia said. “Even though he’s not around, he’s talking all the time with our coaches. He’s watching every game. …It’s obvious.”
Golden State will have five or seven days off until it plays again, depending on whether the Houston-San Antonio series lasts six or seven games. Those inside the organization aren’t ready to speculate about the chances of Kerr returning for the Western Conference finals.
This much is certain: Even if he isn’t on the bench, Kerr will have an imprint on the series.
“There are going to be some things he sees out there that we may not see because he has a different perspective than we do,” Brown said. “It’s kind of sitting back and seeing it from a different viewpoint.”