Erin Popovich’s death also felt by the Warriors
The somber mood permeated the Warriors with their stoic facial expressions and soft words for obvious reasons. The Warriors mourned the passing of Erin Popovich, the wife of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, an incident that Warriors coach Steve Kerr called “shocking” and “unexpected” after “courageously fighting a battle with some health issues in the last few years.”
Kerr still found a moment to laugh, however, about the Spurs trading Kerr to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2001.
“He called me up to tell me the news,” Kerr said of Popovich. “He said, ‘I don’t think I can go home because Erin is going to be so mad at me for trading you.’ ”
Kerr said that his wife, Margot, and Erin “were close and stayed in touch over the years.” Kerr also observed that “Erin was sort of the balance that Pop needed,” sharing a story Popovich has often told regarding her reaction to his infamously gruff interactions with sideline reporters.
“She kept him in check,” Kerr said, smiling. “She was a wonderful person.”
Kerr said the same thing about Gregg Popovich, whomhe considered the “the most admired man in the NBA.”
“He’s a voice for a lot of people who don’t have one. He’s a very thoughtful man and he has a great mind to him, not just with basketball but with his world views and everything outside of this arena,” Klay Thompson said. “He’s always been great to me since I was a rookie. I know everyone else feels the same way. He’s probably one of the most respected people in the NBA with his mind and his ability to coach.”
Beyond that, Popovich has also spoken out on various social issues involving minorities, women and the less fortunate, and has frequently criticized President Donald Trump for his divisive rhetoric that has offended several of those groups. Popovich is the first NBA coach to have a woman assistant in former WNBA star Becky Hammon (2014-present). Popovich has prioritized acquiring international talent both for competitive and cultural reasons.
“He’s just an incredible powerful personality. He’s so raw and honest and morally sound. He’s got his convictions that he sticks to, and he doesn’t care what anybody thinks of him,” Kerr said. “Whether you like him or not, I don’t think you can argue that he is a champion for human rights and civil rights and the good in people and not afraid to call out people who are not helping their fellow members of society. I think everybody sees that honesty and that conviction. Whether you played for him or not, that’s easy to see that.”
• Even before Thompson released the ball, Stephen Curry stood up and applauded. It captured the confidence Curry has in Thomspon’s accuracy during the playoffs. It also captured Curry’s engagement from the bench during games.
“He does that on the court, too,” Thompson said. “So it doesn’t really surprise me.”
It also does not surprise Thompson that Curry has traveled with the team on its five- day trip to San Antonio to rehab his Grade 2 sprain of his MCL in his left knee.
“It shows how committed he is. He could easily just stay back and say, ‘ You guys got this,’ ” Thompson said. “But he wants to be a part of it. Him being here is good for our spirit.”
Curry spent Thursday’s shootaround completing more shooting and running drills.
He also completed exercises with a resistance band without a knee brace.
• Warriors center JaVale McGee started in the team’s Game 3 win over San Antonio despite nursing a left quad contusion in recent days. McGee finished with six points on 3- of-3 shooting and four rebounds in 16 minutes.
McGee completed a pre-game workout and participated in morning shootaround on Thursday, a day after missing practice because of the injury. McGee first suffered the injury during the Warriors’ Game 2 win over the Spurs on Tuesday.