The Golden State Warriors’ head coach will be returning to the sidelines. Steve Kerr has been away from the bench since late April thanks to aftereffects from back surgery, but told Turner Sports’ David Alridge on NBA TV that he plans to coach for both Sunday night’s Game 2 and the rest of the series. Here’s the first clip of Kerr talking about his improving health and cracking deadpan jokes about interim coach Mike Brown:
“I just feel better. The last couple of weeks I’ve been better, I’ve been leading practice every day, doing the film sessions, coaches’ meetings, and put together a few good days. And the other thing, Mike just wasn’t getting the job done.”
Kerr gets a great laugh out of Aldridge there, who responds “13-0, just not quite?” Kerr then deadpans further “Numbers are deceiving, David. Don’t pay attention to the record. The team was falling apart.”
As Kerr told Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury-News earlier these playoffs, he didn’t plan to return to the bench unless he could stay there:
“I will say this–this is not going to be a case where I’m coaching one night, not coaching the next,” he said. “I’m not going to do that to our team, our staff. We’re hoping that in the next week or two, whatever it is, I can sort of make a definitive realization, deduction, or feel that I’m just going to do this or I’m not.”
So, it sounds like Kerr plans to be there for the duration. It’s great to see him healthy enough to return to the sidelines, and it’s clear his sense of humor’s still in fine form. We’ll see how he and the Warriors do when Game 2 tips off at 8 p.m. Eastern Sunday.
