Hanging on every word: Steve Kerr’s positive message is keeping things fresh for Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — At all times meticulous, Mike Brown makes sure to keep a pen handy when Steve Kerr speaks.
During practices and film study, as Kerr doles out bits of wisdom and encourages perspective, Brown, his lead assistant coach, will jot down quotes that stand out. Later, Brown transfers those quotes to a word document he keeps on his computer — something he can refer to when he, himself, needs a coaching pick-me-up.
“He’s one of the brightest guys that I’ve been around but, more importantly, when he speaks to our group, which I think is the most important thing, his messaging to our group is second to none,” Brown said. “One of the things he has to continue to do with this group to keep their spirits up is message the right way.
“I don’t know how he does it. I’ve been coaching a long time and, every time he opens his mouth, I try to hang on to every word.”
Unaccustomed to losing, Kerr has managed to stabilize a roster turned over and decimated by injuries — including Steph Curry’s broken hand in the fourth game of the season. Kerr’s positive messaging has buoyed the team with the league’s worst record.
“I don’t think the general public really saw what was happening until Steph’s injury, but, where we were as a team before Steph’s injury, we were going to take a huge drop just based on losing Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston,” Kerr said. “I could feel it in training camp.”
Kerr may have known the Warriors would take a step back, but no one expected this. Draymond Green, the team’s lone core player standing, most certainly didn’t. Though Kerr revamped his coaching staff in the offseason to include more player development coaches, Green seemed blindsided by the learning curve this season.
After the Warriors’ first two blowout losses of the season — a 19-point loss to the Clippers and a 28-point loss to the Thunder — Green made headlines when he remarked “We [expletive] sucked.” Green, expecting excellence, aimed those comments at his own team. However, after Green’s outbursts, Kerr encouraged him to be more positive, gently recalibrating the star’s expectations.
“It’s a game within the game. I think he’s been doing a great job of staying positive and being encouraging so many times,” Green said. “Steve, as a coach, he’s never been through this. This is different for him as well, so I think he’s handled it really well. Understanding the circumstances with such a young team and continuing to lift guys up.”
Practices are longer now in Golden State. Much longer. During the team’s NBA Finals runs the last five years, Kerr intended to lay a foundation under which the Warriors’ stars could operate. The goal was to provide as little structure as needed, just enough to allow Curry, Durant, Green and Thompson the proper lanes to embrace their basketball IQ and creativity.
Now, foundation is everything. Film sessions are more detail-oriented and practices stop and start, broken up by seminars led by Kerr and Green. Like in grade school, instruction is more serialized. With 10 players new to the program and nine age 23 or younger, they have to learn algebra before they move on to calculus.
“We, as a staff, are trying to make sure we’re not missing any steps because, if we miss steps with a young team, it could create problems,” Brown said. “It could open up the floodgates.”
Kerr leans on Brown and assistant coach Ron Adams to develop new practice plans. Kerr often credits former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson for providing the blueprint for the defense and teaching the fundamentals to Golden State’s preeminent stars. Now, Kerr must do the same for the next generation of Warriors.
“It’s fun. I enjoy teaching the young guys, and it’s fun to see them grow and see them learn,” Kerr said. “It’s also a reminder of how far we have to go.”
After recent road losses to Atlanta and Charlotte by a combined 40 points, Kerr felt like the team took a step back — “We let go of the rope,” he said. When he fears his message is getting stale, Kerr breaks up basketball with team activities, and specifically seeks out comedic relief.
Before the final game of a five-city trip in Chicago, a few members of the team went to a show at The Second City, a famous comedy club. Rookie Jordan Poole and guard Damion Lee were invited on stage by the actors and participated in the third act of the improv set.
“I’ve never done anything of that sort before,” Lee said. “All you see is bright lights when you’re on stage, dark room, in front of 200, 300, 400 people. You just go out there and be confident. It was dope.”
The next day, the Warriors defeated the Bulls, 100-98.
Wins, however, have been few and far between for the 5-21 Warriors. Still, the locker room does not have the stink of a losing team. Outside of the most frustrating losses, spirits are generally high. A team with every reason to fold finds solace in moral victories.
Despite falling behind by 22 points to the Knicks on Wednesday, the Warriors battled back to send the game to overtime. They ultimately lost to the team with the second-worst record in the league, but were proud of the second half they put together. The Warriors may be last in the standings, but their defensive rating and point differential are trending in the right direction.
“That’s the best thing about Steve. His patience is amazing for having to do this, right now in his career, after what they’ve been through here. Having to actually teach and coach young guys,” center Willie Cauley-Stein said. “He can motivate. The way he talks, it makes you want to run through a wall for him.”
At the core of Kerr’s tenets is that life is bigger than basketball, a mantra he adopted when playing for his mentors: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and former Bulls coach Phil Jackson.
“He’ll teach the same things he was going to teach before. It’s basketball. There’s only so much that you teach,” Popovich said. “It’s not like he flips the scripts and teaches them something different from everybody else.
“He’ll just do the same fundamentals at both ends of the court and whoever is here next year will benefit from the teaching and the competitiveness they have this year, so they won’t miss a beat. They’ll just go on. Chances are they won’t be in the finals, but that’s not the point.”
Maintaining perspective is easier knowing Curry and Thompson will eventually return and the Warriors will rise again to relevancy, but it doesn’t necessarily make the days and months in between any less trying.
After a tough loss, Kerr goes home, enjoys a meal, maybe a glass of wine, gets some rest and starts again. “You got to wake up the next day and keep going and keep improving, and you do so with the thought that better times are ahead.”
Those within the organization admire Kerr’s ability to keep his message fresh. Brown, who’s experienced 66-win seasons as well as losing seasons during his 19-year coaching career, recognizes it as Kerr’s most valuable skill. If ever Brown takes another head coaching job, he’ll be sure to refer to his running document of Kerr’s quotes.
“He’s helped me to relax a lot, because I’m a type-A, pound the rock, everything’s got to be organized step by step,” Brown said. “Sometimes, when you’re that wound up, you lose sight of the long-term, ultimate goal in whatever you’re trying to achieve.”