Kerr’s absence could affect Warriors’ run
Right about the time the Golden State Warriors looked unbeatable, even earning playoff wins with the 2013-14 MVP on the shelf, there’s this disconcerting development. Something is wrong with Steve Kerr — again.
The Warriors coach who missed the first half of last season after back surgery finds himself in another fight with his body, having missed Saturday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers with what the Warriors ambigu- ously deemed an illness.
Kerr announced Sunday he would miss Monday’s Game 4 due to chronic back pain. He was asked what his symptoms were and declined to elaborate. He told reporters he wouldn’t return to the sideline this postseason if his back didn’t improve.
It’s not clear whether his symptoms are related to the previous struggles. In July 2015, he had back surgery to alleviate pain, only to be subjected to six months of agony when the membrane that surrounds his spinal cord was accidentally nicked. This time, Kerr’s decision to have lead assistant coach Mike Brown take over at such a crucial moment speaks volumes about the pain he is known to be experiencing. This is not a hospital-bed type situation. Kerr is with his team in Portland, where the Warriors won their second consecutive game without Kevin Durant (calf ) in Game 3 on Saturday.
Beyond the bigger-than-basketball part of this for Kerr, 51, there’s the reality that this could impact the Warriors’ title hopes. Kerr has masterfully managed the Warriors’ loaded roster the past three seasons, leading them to a 207-39 record (.841 winning percentage) and winning it all in 2015.
In the deeper rounds, when the Warriors could find themselves facing off against coaches like the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich or the Houston Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni or a host of other capable coaching minds, the margin for error is razor-thin.
It helps that Brown, hired last summer to replace Luke Walton when he became the Los Angeles Lakers coach, is qualified. He spent three years as an assistant under Popovich, where he worked alongside Kerr for two seasons in the later stages of his playing career (they won the title together in 2003). Brown spent five seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first LeBron James era (2005 to 2010), then served as head coach of the Lakers for the lockoutshortened 2011-12 season before being fired five games into the next season.
Brown has a regular-season coaching record of 305-187 and a healthy body of work in the postseason (42-29 record) with the Cavs that includes a trip to the 2007 Finals (they were swept by the Spurs). And he has defensive guru Ron Adams and assistant Jarron Collins at his side.
More than likely, they’ll make it work and keep winning games while Kerr recovers. But as long as he is out, that air of invincibility is no more.