Commissioner visits Kerr, speaks on rest

Steve Kerr has been a hidden figure during this year’s playoffs, lurking behind the scenes and doing everything he can to have some presence while still unable to coach the Warriors. Acting head coach Mike Brown and the players appreciate even the slightest glimpse of him, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had a brief chat with Kerr before Thursday night’s Game 1 of the Finals.

“I’ve known Steve for probably close to 25 years, and my heart goes out to him,” Silver said in a pregame news conference. “As he and I talked about this, it puts it all in perspective. I think for those who have dealt with long-term physical ailments or had family members (going through it), all those cliches are true, that nothing is as important as your health.

“And I think that, as Steve said, this should be one of the great moments of his storied basketball career, and instead he’s going to be sitting in the locker room rather than being out on the floor coaching his team. As all of you know, he’s still intimately involved in game preparation, talking to Coach (Mike) Brown and the players. And it’s more than just two friends saying hello to each other.”

With Kerr ruling himself out of Game 1, Brown was back on the bench, in charge, and Kerr’s status remains in doubt for the rest of the series.

Silver also addressed the issue of healthy players sitting out games for rest, a matter that came to a head when Kerr rested four players for a regular-season game against San Antonio.

“One of the ways we agreed to help solve the problem is we agreed to add a week to next year’s regular season,” he said. “The same number of games, but spread out a little more. What we’re learning is not the 82 games, or the length of the season, it’s the time between games, and that there’s a direct correlation between fatigue and injury. Resting itself is not a new issue in this league. But, in the past, we didn’t have a category called ‘DNP- rest.’ That’s only 3 years old on the stat sheet.

“I don’t think the fan benefits by the league somehow requiring a player who wasn’t injured but was banged up a bit to play in a game when the trainers felt that player needed rest. But it’s something we’ll continue to look at. I know the union is open to spreading out the season even more. But my desire is not to be giving this press conference in July.”