When the Golden State Warriors begin their title defense next Tuesday, they may do so without sophomore head coach Steve Kerr.
Steve Kerr is apparently suffering from a spinal fluid leak after having two offseason back surgeries. Assistants Luke Walton and Ron Adams have been holding down the fort in the interim, and according to ESPN.com’s Ethan Sherwood Strauss and Marc Stein, the team has no idea when Kerr will be able to return:
“He still doesn’t know,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said after practice Monday in San Diego. “He’s not going to force a return. There’s no timetable still. He’s been around more lately, which is great. As long as it’s not affecting his recovery, I think it’s healthy for the guys to see him.
“Steve’s brilliant at giving quick, clean messages to the players when they need it. He’s been able to do that the last couple days. He just told me I’m doing a great job, just keep doing what you’re doing; the guys are going to take care of some stuff you’re probably stressing about; we have really good players and so we’ll be fine.”
Although the Warriors have repeatedly stressed that no one can forecast how long it will take Steve Kerr to recover, one source close to the situation conceded over the weekend that the team is bracing for the possibility that the coach will be unavailable “for a little while.”
Steve Kerr is irreplaceable to the Warriors. He completely reinvented their on- and off-court culture, turning them into a fun and fast team that can score and defend and knows how to handle its preeminence responsibly without draining itself of discernible character.
But, looking the on bright side, the environment Kerr has created stretches deeper than even him. That’s why the Warriors could lose their top assistant and part-offensive architect in Alvin Gentry to the New Orleans Pelicans without feeling a sense of panic. That’s why you don’t have to fret over the locker room’s attitude after the team decided to flip David Lee for financial reasons. And that’s why you don’t have to worry too much about the Warriors competing in the increasingly likely event Kerr cannot be on the sidelines to start the season.
Regardless of what team he was coaching or how well the Warriors did last season, Steve Kerr’s health would always come first. But there’s something comforting, and wholly incredible, about his approach, his coaching style, being so effective that Golden State should be able to transcend his absence.
