Immediately following the Warriors’ Game 3 win over the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday night, some frightening news dropped.
Bay Area News Group columnist Marcus Thompson is reporting Steve Kerr’s health is not in good shape.
His sudden and mysterious absence from the Warriors bench, which came to light at shootaround on Saturday morning, didn’t come with much explanation. Vague descriptions like “illness” and “not feeling well,” are usually a sign something is wrong. In this case, according to sources, it is.
At the worst of this current illness, Kerr was in excruciating pain, according to the sources, and he could barely walk. It was scary because it wasn’t a feeling he’s had before.
The worst part, the Warriors don’t yet know what is going on. They had to say “illness” because there are no answers yet.
Speculation from other insiders indicate Kerr’s mysterious illness could very well be related to his back surgery gone wrong from 2015, that forced him to miss the first 43 games of the regular season. During that span, the Warriors went 39-4 under Luke Walton, who used the audition to earn the Lakers head coaching job. Spinal fluid leaking from a surgery mishap has left Kerr with unbearable headaches for large portions of the last two years.
There is nothing more important in life than your health. Kerr has trained Mike Brown well enough to run the team. If Kerr needs to miss the next round — or the entire postseason — the Warriors will have to cope. Kerr is a master button pusher but the Warriors will have to trust assistant Mike has learned enough in just under a year from Kerr. He even made some tweaks of his own in Game — riding the hot hands by playing JaVale McGee and Patrick McCaw late in the game.
If we’re trying to spin this positively for the Warriors, next round’s matchup is against either the Clippers or Jazz, two teams Golden State can likely sweep — with or without Kerr.
But after that, Kerr’s absence will be felt. A Western Conference Finals against the Spurs would automatically give the coaching advantage to Gregg Popovich. An NBA Finals re-match with the Cavaliers would pit Brown against his former pupil LeBron James, a player he often clashed with as the head coach of Cleveland. Seems like a daunting task for Brown. As smart as Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala are on the basketball court, it seems like no Kerr could be the great equalizer in the 2017 postseason.
Not trying to ring any alarm bells, but you have to wonder how long Steve Kerr is going to want to coach in the NBA. He’s a brilliant guy with many passions and interests. And he’s someone who realizes how important his long term health is. I’m wishing him nothing but a speedy recovery and let’s hope this story is being blown out of proportion.