Hearts around the Bay Area — and the entire country for that matter — are breaking for Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
The man who makes the Warriors tick, the man who conceived a brand of basketball millions of people fell in love with, the man who is constantly instilling positive vibes through his words and actions is in serious jeopardy of losing his basketball season. It’s not fair.
“I’m consulting with my doctors,” Kerr told reporters Sunday in Portland, putting on a brave face. “I’m hoping for some improvement and if I can get some improvement I’ll get back on the sidelines. But I’m not going to do that unless I know I can help the team.”
The Warriors didn’t need any added fuel on their redemption quest to dethrone LeBron James in June. Now they have it. If Kerr misses the rest of the postseason, you’ll see a Warriors team fight harder than they’ve ever fought to bring a Larry O’Brien trophy back for Kerr.
There are no positives to glean from this situation, but Kerr can take solace in the fact that the Warriors know how to thrive without him. Because of the systems he’s implemented, not much will change — not the ball movement, not the shot selection, not the aggressive switching defense, not the perfectly manicured rotations Kerr deftly crafted.
The basketball will look mostly the same as it did in Saturday’s Game 3 triumph, but there is a new voice. As assistant coach Mike Brown navigates the uncharted waters of taking over a juggernaut in the playoffs, there’s no player he’ll lean on more than Draymond Green.
Green’s tasked with guarding both centers and point guards, but he’s also now in charge of saying what needs to be said. If Steph Curry is turning the ball over with flashy passes, Green needs to call him out on it. If Klay Thompson looks uninterested one night on the defensive end, Green needs to say something. We’ve already seen Draymond and Kevin Durant have a verbal spat in early February at Sacramento — Green’s leadership also delivered KD to Oakland. He’s never shied away from challenge teammates. Now, it’s a necessity.
Kerr’s leadership style is predicated on spreading positivity and making role players feel like they’re important. Draymond, obviously, is much more confrontational. His words carry a bite that wake his teammates up and create a sense of urgency. It’ll be an adjustment for the Warriors taking more direction from Green — it’ll put everyone on higher alert — but he’s done this before. When Kerr originally missed 43 games to start the 2016-17 season, Luke Walton sort of let Green run free — both with the basketball and with his mouth. Golden State had their best stretch of basketball in team history (39-4). Green was playing the best basketball of his career, too. Walton let Green run the show. It was regular season success, but it was success.
I’m not saying Draymond needs to step out of his element to become a player-coach on the floor. He’s the de facto leader because this is always who he’s been. It’s just that now, more than ever, his messaging to teammates will matter. Kerr has created an open dialogue forum for everyone to chime in and Green’s voice is the loudest. What he says can and will impact a game. And he’s shown when his voice is stronger, he’s played better in the past.
Green’s leadership can come in non-verbal forms, too. Take the start of the 14-game winning streak in March. The Warriors were gridlocked with the 76ers early in the fourth quarter — until Green decided it was time to take over defensively. His teammates followed with the increased effort on that end of the floor, and for the next 13 games they were absolutely dominant on defense. Leadership can come in many forms.
A revved up Draymond is essential to what the Warriors do. But now he won’t have Kerr nagging him to stop badgering officials. Draymond called Brown the MVP of Game 3 for the coaching job he did, but there was also a moment Green refused to come off the court after picking up a foul. Brown understands the point forward plays basketball without a leash, but the two need to come to an understanding on who really is in charge.
There is a fine line Green has to balance. We don’t have to relive his Game 4 NBA Finals mistake on LeBron and his Game 5 suspension. Those are well documented factoids that will last with Green’s legacy. There’s a fine line between fiery competitor and irresponsible hothead. True leaders know when to not flirt with disaster.
“Draymond has grown so many ways the last year,” Kerr said at the start of the playoffs. “I see the maturity.”
Kerr believes he can still be a part of practice and film sessions during the Warriors title run. Who knows, maybe he magically starts feeling better a week from now, and this is a muted story until the offseason. If Kerr really is away from the sidelines for the next two months, what Draymond says, and how he says it to his teammates will become an integral factor in whether the Golden State Warriors win another championship.
Kerr and Bob Myers are often referred to as the brain power of the Warriors. Kerr has often called Draymond Green the “heart and soul” of this team. Both of those theories will be tested during the third championship run of the Kerr era.
