Coach: Warriors’ boss has ‘gone through hell’
Seven months ago, before San Antonio’s season-opening rout of the Warriors, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was asked whether he still gives Steve Kerr advice.
“I hate Steve Kerr,” Popovich said. “If he asks me anything, I tell him to go urinate in a bucket.”
It was characteristic Popovich: the type of dry, sarcastic one-liner that he has made his staple. But late Sunday morning, ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against Golden State, Popovich struck a more serious tone when discussing his longtime protege.
Kerr is three weeks into an indefinite hiatus from the bench as he tends to chronic pain, and his status for the rest of the playoffs remains in doubt. Popovich, who talks with Kerr regularly, knows better than most what his friend has endured since back surgery nearly two years ago led to complications.
“He’s gone through hell,” Popovich said. “I’m sure most people don’t really know, and I’ll leave that to him to describe as much as he wants to describe. It’s been very difficult for him, and he’s shown a lot of courage getting through what he’s gotten through.”
Desperate for an end to the head and neck pain that has long plagued him, Kerr underwent a spinal-cord-leak procedure May 5 at Duke University. He participated in coaches’ meetings the past two days and, for the first time since stepping away from the bench, coached on the floor during practice Saturday. Kerr was at Oracle Arena on Sunday, but he was not on the bench. It was the first time he has been in the same building as his team for a game since Game 4 of the Warriors’ first-round playoff series in Portland.
Popovich said he would make time to check in with him.
“You keep tabs on friends,” Popovich said. “That’s just normal.”