San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
UNEASY STEPS TO A DYNASTY
At Steve Kerr’s first training camp, rookie coach had nearly everyone question his unusual methods
Camp turmoil seems to have put a damper on the Golden State Warriors’ hopes of defending their NBA title. Draymond Green punched a teammate, Klay Thompson has been mysteriously slow to return to full action, and a long trip to Japan sucked energy and time from player/team development.
Challenging times? Sure, but it might help to remember that the Warriors’ four-title dynasty emerged from a place of doubt and uncertainty — training camp in 2014, with rookie head coach Steve Kerr.
Considering how quickly the Warriors achieved greatness, it’s easy to forget that at the start of 2014 training camp, roaring success was far from inevitable. A closer look in the rearview mirror reminds us that that camp was not a quick warm-up for instant greatness, but rather a risky lab experiment, with safety goggles recommended.
Kerr’s quirky coaching philosophy and his radical reconstruction of the offense were pure theory. There were tricky personnel decisions to be made, including what to do with a volatile fellow named Draymond.
Kerr was taking over for a fired coach, Mark Jackson, who had advanced the team from decades of doldrums to the doorstep of major success, and was highly respected by many key players.
“If we were having a beer and you said, ‘Hey, if this doesn’t work, you might get fired,’
I would have probably acknowledged you’re right.” Warriors GM Bob Myers on hiring Steve Kerr,
another rookie coach who was working in TV
The future of the franchise was riding on the buy-in of Stephen Curry, Green, Andre Iguodala and others. Would they accept the new coach’s system, his preaching of mindfulness and joy, his grade school drills?
Even simple things were risky. Would the players scoff at the then-radical concept of music played at practices? In exclusive interviews with the Chronicle, key figures look back at the day the music started.
Before training camp, Kerr visited many of the players, including Andrew Bogut in Australia. Then Kerr held a pre-training camp retreat for his coaching staff, but before that he had an informal pre-retreat with his good friend and new assistant coach, Bruce Fraser, known as Q.
Fraser: He was up here (Bay Area) when he took the job, and we were both living at the Claremont Hotel. We would have coffee every morning. I was more of a listener, he would strategize and throw out all his thoughts. Steve’s a thinker, and he was in heavy thinking mode about all these new things ... lineups, what we’d be running, how we’d defend, what are our values, our core values? What’s our culture going to be?
He probably wasn’t sleeping, and it wasn’t because he was nervous. Steve doesn’t get
nervous. Maybe in a Game 7 there’s some nerves, but his energy, instead of going toward nerves, goes toward thought.
In the leadup to camp, the Warriors almost traded Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to Cleveland for Kevin Love. After intense internal debate, team owner Joe Lacob gave the final decision to general manager Bob Myers.
Kerr: Bob came to me and said, “I’m not going to hire a coach and then make a trade that he doesn’t agree with. That doesn’t make any sense. If you believe in this vision, I’m with you.”
The night before camp opened, Kerr hosted a team dinner at a restaurant in Jack London Square.
Kerr: We had put together a video that had a lot of humor in it, a lot of movie clips and different messaging, kind of describing what our philosophy was. It was “strength in numbers,” that was the first time we kind of used that phrase. Marv Albert did the voice-over. I was pulling out all the stops to try to show the guys, “We’ve got a plan here,” you know?
The previous head coach, Mark Jackson, was well-liked and respected by many of the Warriors, including Stephen Curry and Green. Many attended church services where Jackson preached.
Bogut: There were a few players that were, I guess, not too fond of the firing. And I don’t think that was so much basketball, I think it was that they liked Mark Jackson as a person, he was religious, he brought that whole dynamic, and a lot of guys on our team were religious. But I think if they were being honest, they would say quietly, not publicly, that the coaching could have been improved . ... So I wouldn’t say that Steve was welcomed with open arms by everyone, but I’ll say the majority of the players welcomed the change.
Still, Kerr was another rookie coach hired out of the broadcast booth, adding to the risk factor.
Myers: I don’t know the right way to characterize it, but I wasn’t sleeping easy. I was cautiously optimistic, but definitely some anxiety . ... If we were having a beer and you said, “Hey, if this doesn’t work, you might get fired,” I would have probably acknowledged you’re right.
Camp opens
Kerr wanted the players to have fun, but be professional.
Kerr: I made a big deal to the players about the importance of being on time. I said, “We’re not messing around. If you’re not there, the bus is leaving, the plane is leaving.” So we take our first trip. Get to the plane, all the players are there, and (assistant coach) Alvin Gentry is late. Got stuck in traffic or whatever. And I got Andrew Bogut coming back to where I’m sitting. He’s like, “Coach, plane’s gotta go, right? Everybody’s here!”
And the very next morning, (assistant coach) Luke Walton misses the bus to shootaround. ... The players were loving it. Players love it when coaches screw up.
Fraser: Steve was mildmannered and cerebral with his approach. Practices went pretty well, Steve didn’t raise his voice. I remember, day three or four of practice, Steve jumped ’em, yelled at the team, and I remember Steph yelling out, “That’s what I’ve been waiting for!”
The music
Prior to camp, Kerr spent a few days in Seattle shadowing Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, and he was impressed with the NFL team’s culture and Carroll’s use of music. Kerr came to camp determined to introduce music to practices, not then a common practice in the NBA.
Fraser: When Steve first told me he was going to play music, I thought he was nuts . ... I don’t think the front office loved the music to start, (assistant GM) Travis Schlenk in particular, and I love Travis. Steve wanted to put some new speakers in, and Travis had some control over budget, and he was just scratching his head. I was in agreement with Travis, actually.
Myers: The music was different. I could see (assistant coach) Ron (Adams) didn’t love the music. I’m sure Ron and Travis were sidebarring about, “What the hell are we doing? Turn this s— off.” ... It was an abrupt shift. Players loved it, they loved it. I didn’t understand the value of it. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t get it, either.
Kerr: During our warm-ups, Steph loved to shoot halfcourt shots. Bob walks out there, he’s just hired me to be the coach, there’s music blasting, and all the players are taking threequarters-court shots. I’m sure Bob is thinking, “What the hell did I just do? Why did I hire this guy?”
Shaun Livingston: It was great, I enjoyed it, I think it got everybody going, it got your blood flowing, especially during the days when you needed a pick-me-up. It kind of tricks your mind so you’re not feeling like it’s work, or a job.
Fraser: Steve picked the music to start. Then we’d ask the players. If it was your birthday, you controlled the playlist.
Bogut: Guys would have their own day. So I played Australian and Croatian songs, and Festus (Ezeli) would have some stuff from his homeland, Nigeria, (Leandro) Barbosa had Portuguese music, and we’d make fun of each other. It kind of bonds your team, guys are coming in happy and smiling.
Kerr: Bogut and David Lee would put their playlists on, we’d call it “White Guy Wednesday.”
Myers: I think Ron finally accepted it. He said, “You know what I’ve learned? There’s a lot of different ways to bake a cake.”
The goofy/cosmic stuff
Kerr, influenced by former coaches like Phil Jackson, introduced such concepts as joyfulness, mindfulness, and days off.
Livingston: Steve had competitions, like shooting contests. That’s common in the NBA, but what wasn’t common was being able to take days off and go bowling, right? Or go to the Coliseum and take batting practice. That wasn’t common. ... For us, it was a chance to connect outside of basketball. You build chemistry. That was a first for me.
Adams: What Steve tried to do was introduce everyone to a different kind of mindfulness, I think. It was based on approaching the game with joy, and thankfulness that you’re even involved in it, right? We’re very privileged people at this level, it’s not a real world. That was a fundamental building block that Steve wanted to get
across, this joyfulness.
Livingston: That was the best time, for me, playing basketball.
The drills
Kerr and his staff put the players through basic, grade school drills, including passing to a toss-back trampoline.
Adams: The toss-back probably got a few eyes rolling.
Bogut: For the first week of training camp, we did the most basic high school drills. “OK, guys, get a partner. Chest passes. OK, now do a bounce pass. Do a baseball pass.” Or throw it off one of those toss-back nets. There were guys, I know Draymond was like, “This is bulls—.” There were definitely guys who were like, “You’re treating us like we’re in high school. We’re grown men.” Steve kind of said, “We’re doing this for this reason,” and guys were like, “Yeah, whatever.”
Livingston: Baby drills, we did ’em a lot . ... For Steve, he felt we were so talented that less was more . ... Guys would be like, “I gotta go to the bathroom.” It’s like your vitamins, your vegetables. When you’re a kid you don’t want to eat ’em, but you need ’em.
Bogut: The best part was that whenever we had a highturnover game, we’d come in and start practice with that stuff. It was Steve’s way of saying, “OK, you guys want to wing the ball, we’re going back to basics.” I think it was genius.
Sometimes Kerr would have music playing during the baby drills.
Myers: Maybe that’s the genius: The music was so good that the drill was acceptable.
The offense
Kerr’s new free-flowing offense featured cutting, movement and passing, with an emphasis on 3-pointers. It was radically different from Jackson’s offense.
Myers: I think it was the right idea, but there’s a lot of coaches who have the right idea. If you say, “I got it right, but the players aren’t able to grasp it,” nobody cares. I could tell you that in that camp, we were kicking the ball all over the gym. It flat-out did not look great. There’s a step backward before a step forward, but in camp it felt like two or three steps back, because it was a little bit out of the comfort zone for that team.
I shared the belief, Steve didn’t need to convince me that this was the right thing to do. But, yeah, as far as “Can we get this? Can the team actually do what he’s asking them do?” It sure didn’t look like it at the outset.
Kerr: Everything looks good when you draw it on paper, then all of a sudden you’re trying to execute and you’re wondering if it’s all going to work. I remember one practice, day three or four, the first time we really scrimmaged, and it was total chaos out there, and I left practice just totally discouraged. I remember calling Q and saying, “I don’t know, do you think this is going to work?”
He said, “Players make plays. We’ve got good guys that are really talented, and as they play together they’re going to get more and more comfortable, and they’re going to make plays.” And he was exactly right.
The new offense would revolutionize the 3-pointer.
Adams: You have these two marvelous shooters (Curry and Thompson), and there’s a few more shackles taken off, right? You gonna bitch and groan about that?
Bogut: I know basketball better than anyone, I believe, IQ-wise, and I knew this was the right way to play. It’s the best way to play, period. It wasn’t a grindy-type team where we just grinded out wins and every game was a tussle. It was an enjoyable way to play. It was free-flowing. I still remember road games where the crowd was ooing and aahing because of the way we played.
Kerr: We had really smart players, so guys like Bogut and Draymond and Andre (Iguodala), they started doing stuff that wasn’t even planned. We’d see it on tape and it was like, “Wait, this needs to be part of it.” It just unfolded.
Fraser: You could kind of see, like, “Oh, wow, the ball’s moving, the ball’s starting to really hum.”
Myers: When they got it, it was clear to see, “Oh, my gosh, that’s what we’re trying to get to.”
Bogut: Where the offense changed under Steve was the ball was getting through everyone’s hands; everyone was moving the ball. I wasn’t shooting, Harrison (Barnes) wasn’t shooting, Draymond wasn’t shooting, but you felt involved. That was hugely important for our team morale and the way we played.
Draymond
Green was going into his third season. The previous, under Mark Jackson, Green played 21.9 minutes per game. This season, stepping into a starting job when David Lee was injured in the final preseason game, he would play 31.5 minutes per.
Myers: Steve and I met before the season, he wrote on the board (in his office) the minutes he thought guys would play. And he had 12 next to Draymond. I said, “Ah, I think you’re going to play him more than that.” And he said, “Well, I don’t know where, and with what lineups.” I said, “I don’t either, but I know it’s going to be more than 12 minutes, Steve. He’s going to force you to play him.” Like he does, right? That’s what he does, he’s so good and impacts winning.
I’d been around Draymond. It’s hard to see his value sometimes. You can see some of it clearly, but a lot of it is immeasurable. It’s behind-the-scenes stuff. You open the door for a guy like Draymond, he’s going to go through it.
Kerr: I didn’t recognize how good he was. But David Lee (the starting power forward) was a hell of a player, he was an All-Star. He was going to be our four (power forward), Bogut was five (center). Once David got hurt (just before the season started) Draymond just took the job and ran with it. Then we realized what we had.
Livingston: Draymond, he was just a dog. That was my first impression. I had played with Michigan State guys, so I had that expectation, but watching him play, I mean, he’s just one of those guys you want on your team . ... He did all the little things that I like to do. I would pride myself on doing some of the little things that it takes to win. He did all of those things, and more.
Bogut: He wasn’t the Draymond he is today, that’s for sure. He was still trying to find his niche. Mark Jackson had him playing the three a lot, which wasn’t his natural position, he didn’t play well there. I think this (Lee’s injury) is the “find-gold” moment. Draymond takes that starting spot and we start off hot and the rest is history.
Iguodala
Kerr’s boldest move was asking Iguodala, who had started every game he played in his first 10 seasons, to come off the bench. Kerr presented the idea to Iguodala two or three days into camp.
Kerr: He wasn’t thrilled. He was willing to try it. I said, “I understand what you’re thinking, let’s see how it goes.” And it didn’t go so great for the first month, it was really hard for him. He pushed back a little bit, but we had some good discussions, and eventually he really bought into it.
Fraser: You can tell when Andre’s not happy about something, but credit to him, he went along with it, he didn’t quit.
Myers: The fact that Andre accepted it was a huge part of that season and our story. It sent a message that, “I’m going to listen to this guy, I’m going to give him a fair chance, even to my detriment.”
Curry
Myers: Had Steph been skeptical, no coach could have succeeded. Steph could have ended the whole experiment in one hour.
Fraser: It was vital for this (offensive) stuff to work for Steph, but I think what was more vital was to let Steph be Steph, however that could happen. We had to let his spirit prevail, let him guide our team and our culture. His impact was going to be critical. You couldn’t bridle his spirit. You’re going to have to live with some of his mistakes (in the new offense) and hope he could get there. It took Steph a while, it took he and Klay a while, but when you’re moving like that and all of a sudden the ball comes to you, you’re reaping rewards on your movement.
Camp report
Kerr: It took a while for us to feel really comfortable, for me to feel really comfortable, and the fact that we had such a dynamic team and a group of high-character guys made it easier, because they embraced everything from the start.
Adams: We had some issues, but it was pretty seamless, the whole year. I think it was partly this discovery of something new, something different. That first season certainly set the template for the Warriors, but it also set, in some ways, a template for the league.
Bogut: I think that camp goes down as the turning point for that whole franchise and the success it’s had the last decade.
ACROSS
1 Half of a chess set
6 Treaties
11 Be patient for
12 Boise’s state
13 Doorstop shape
14 Juliet’s love
15 Wife of Zeus
17 Poker prize
18 Speedy part of a
highway
22 Snowman in
“Frozen”
23 Bellyached
27 Reef material
29 Greek marketplace
30 Roma’s nation
32 Barber’s focus
33 Stretch out
35 Sense of self
38 Wild guess
39 Work of fiction
41 Of the Vatican
45 Because of
46 Select group
47 Sipping aid
48 Wintry weather
DOWN
1 Fido’s foot
2 Stunned wonder 3 Gum mass
4 Dusk
5 Girder material
6 Voracious fish
7 Fuss
8 Scout’s base
9 Vincent Van Gogh’s
brother
10 Chimney grime
16 Unrefined
18 Center points
19 Heaps
20 Mystery writer Woods
21 Pool game
24 Ark builder
25 Lake near Buffalo
26 “Doggone!”
28 Stays under the radar 31 Termite’s kin
34 Stares in shock
35 Finishes
36 Foot ailment
37 Finished
40 Greek vowel
42 Diner dessert
43 Chowed down
44 Permit
ACROSS
1 Pungent veggie
7 Petty argument
11 Right away
12 Mexican coin
13 Careless mistake
15 Ready for war
16 Sinfulness
18 Clutter
21 Pub missile
22 More active
24 Yale student
25 For each
26 Tell tales
27 Scottish beast
29 Doofus
30 Like dimes
31 Join together
32 Flight unit
34 Between-teeth cleaner
40 Out of the wind
41 Shred
42 Cabinet part
43 Fish hawk
DOWN
1 Ewe’s mate
2 Dined
3 Singer Henley
4 Unbroken
5 Frighten
6 Ship’s wheel
7 Black suit
8 Vigor
9 Braying beast
10 Sock part
14 Monkey’s cousin
16 Parking pro
17 Limerick people
19 Farm towers
20 Grab
21 Comfy room
22 Flower visitor
23 Early auto
25 Ship of 1492
28 Brother’s sibling
29 Sack material
31 Flutes’ cousins
33 Choir voice
34 Pop
35 “Evil Woman” group
36 “The Matrix” hero
37 Hockey’s Bobby
38 Take to court
39 Secret agent