MOVING FORWARD
A happy Stephen Curry, who had 37 points, is congratulated by Portland’s CJ McCollum after the Warriors destroyed the Trail Blazers 128-103 on Monday to complete a sweep of their NBA playoff series. Next up for the Warriors is the winner of the Utah Jazz-
PORTLAND, Ore. — Call that one “Ode To Joy.”
Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news: The Warriors are ready.
If there’s one word that sums up Steve Kerr’s coaching philosophy, it’s “joy.” He preaches it, he demands it. In good times, he wears it.
On Monday night, watching the game on TV from the locker room, Kerr saw it on display, by the bucketful.
Joy, and more. Along with the crazed exuberance with which the Warriors dismantled the Trail Blazers 128-103, there was something more, something harder: an intensity.
Something’s gotten into the Warriors. Yes, they are the top-seed team playing the injury-depleted No. 8 seed. But by any standards, that was impressive.
Are the Warriors on a mission to win one for their Gip-
per?
Well, Kerr wants no part of that action. It’s not his style. Besides, George Gipp inspired Notre Dame from the grave, and Kerr is way above ground. He seeks to infuse his Warriors with inspiration and information, not with morbid sympathy.
He had to love it that the Globetrotters-style game the Warriors trotted out from the tip-off Monday night featured dazzle, but also something much deeper.
Example: The Warriors led 25-5 when Stephen Curry pulled up just beyond the mid-court circle for a transition 29-foot jumper. A minute later, Curry came out of a tangle without the ball but with a snarl.
It wasn’t just Steph being TurboSteph, it was the whole team playing with a scary focus and intensity.
The Warriors were finishing a first-round sweep of an overmatched foe, but this was no routine Cleanup on Aisle Four. The Trail Blazers didn’t give up Monday night, though it’s hard to look plucky when you’re on the wrong end of an avalanche.
Whatever mission the Warriors have been on since blowing that 3-1 lead in the Finals last year now has a more intense mission statement, because of their coach.
The players will low-key the Kerr angle, possibly at his urging, but don’t think they are oblivious to his situation. They know what he is going though, and the best way they can show support for him is to play their rear ends off.
That pull-up 29-footer by Curry was no showoff shot. It was a cold-blooded statement. As was Kevin Durant’s chasedown swat of a Mo Harkless layup, which led to a Draymond Green pass to Curry for another three.
The Warriors are 12 wins short of a title, and the road will get a lot rockier, but this is a team that will not be outemotioned by anyone.
This is a crazy talented team, but if the Warriors win it all, it won’t be on talent alone.
Kerr’s condition remains mysterious and unpredictable. On Sunday, he surprised the media by coming to a news conference scheduled to be general manager Bob Myers giving us a Kerr update.
On Monday, he surprised again when he attended the team’s morning practice, then rode the team bus to the arena for the game.
Kerr, I’m sure, has given up trying to predict how he will feel from moment to moment, although he’s probably never above four on the 1-10 pain scale. It’s possible Kerr felt well enough to coach Monday’s game, but he’s not going that route. He won’t play the drama game of coaching one night, sitting the next.
But Kerr will be with the team, behind the scenes, whenever he can, and the players and coaching staff are good with that. For Kerr’s sub, Mike Brown, there is zero awkwardness.
It’s not just the players who have been affected by Kerr’s turn for the worse. I’ve received many emails from people wanting to offer a cure for Kerr. My colleagues report the same, and Raymond Ridder, the Warriors VP of communications, told me he’s been flooded with emails from folks offering help.
By now Kerr probably feels he has tried or heard of every possible treatment known to man, but he’s not closing that door. Maybe some random emailer will have the answer.
Right now there are no answers. Monday morning I asked Bruce Fraser, a Warriors’ assistant and Kerr’s friend since their college days together at Arizona, if there’s anything he can do to distract Kerr or take him away from his pain.
“There’s not a lot anyone can do for him, unfortunately,” Fraser said. “Try and hang out a little bit with him. We have our normal coffee in the morning.”
Fraser said that the last thing Kerr wants is sympathy. When people ask him how he’s doing, there’s not much Kerr can say. So if you bump into the coach, steer away from that line of conversation.
“The one good thing about him, with us, is that he’s been able to maintain a sense of humor,” Fraser said. “He was good in our film session yesterday. He’s still witty, his mind’s still sharp, he just doesn’t feel good.”
But Monday night, no doubt he felt the joy.