Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is finally set to return to the sidelines. How is that going to affect the defending champs?
After missing far more time than anyone expected, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is finally set to return from surgery on his back that led to a spinal fluid leakage. That’s obviously a serious injury, and Kerr needed to make sure he was ready before he returned to the team.
It seems he’s now made that decision, as the Warriors announced Friday morning that Kerr will indeed coach his team in Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. Probably not coincidentally, Friday’s game is in Oracle Arena, home of the Warriors.
More from Golden State Warriors
- Grade the Trade: Warriors become title-favs in proposed deal with Raptors
- 5 NBA players everyone should be keeping a close eye on in 2023-24
- New detail about title-costing mistake reopens old wounds for Warriors
- 5 NBA players facing do-or-die 2023–2024 seasons
- 7 Harsh realities of the Golden State Warriors offseason
Warriors fans will certainly be excited to see their championship head coach return. Interim head coach Luke Walton had a successful run, that much can’t be questioned. The Warriors started out 24-0 under Walton, and currently sit first in the NBA at 39-4.
But still, this team has been missing Kerr. Golden State seemed like a class dealing with a lenient substitute teacher with Walton in charge. They still played up to par, but the Warriors talked trash far more than they used to without Kerr watching over them.
Steve Kerr is maybe the most easygoing coach in the NBA, but the incessant trash talking will still probably lessen now that he’s back. The culture he instilled in the Warriors was about having fun, not being salty and taking offense to everything any team says or does involving the Dubs.
These Warriors needed something to give them a jolt. The San Antonio Spurs are gaining steam as the season goes on, and after that historic start, Golden State has gone 15-4.
Winning 79 percent of the time as the Warriors have since that first loss is obviously good, but not quite good enough when the Spurs are winning some 86 percent of their games this season, and their last 12 in a row.
Kerr returning should refocus this team, and lead to a surge in the standings. By using their energy to work harder on the floor instead of in the media room, the Golden State Warriors can prove to the NBA that they still deserve the respect that comes with being the NBA’s best team.
The most certain thing to come of Kerr’s return is that things probably aren’t going to go well for the Pacers on Friday night. Indiana has stumbled through the last few weeks, and are heading straight into a buzz-saw waiting for them in Oakland.
The Warriors are already almost impossible to beat. The difficulty grows substantially when they’re at home. Now add in the team welcoming back their leader in Steve Kerr, and it seems like the Pacers are going to have a rough night in California.
The timing of Kerr’s return to the bench is crucial for the Warriors because they have four games against San Antonio and three games against the Oklahoma City Thunder coming in the next three months or so. Those games are going to determine who the best team in the NBA is.
More hoops habit: Every NBA Franchise's Mount Rushmore
Now that the Golden State Warriors have Steve Kerr steering the ship again, expect them to go out and prove they’re still on top of the world.