Despite all the Warriors’ success during his coaching tenure, the past three years have been one of the darkest periods of Steve Kerr‘s life. Following a pair of spinal surgeries in the summer of 2015, Kerr has suffered ongoing complications from those procedures that forced him to miss a large portion of the Warriors’ historic 73-win season and nearly all of the playoffs this year leading up to the Finals.
But Kerr was back on the bench for Golden State’s 4-1 trouncing of the Cavs to win their second title in three years, and he has no plans of retiring anytime soon. Via Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve definitely gotten better, I’ve made some improvement. But I still feel like there’s improvement to make.”
How confident is he that he’ll be able to coach all season?
“I fully expect to coach all year,” Kerr says in a no-nonsense tone. “That’s my expectation. And for many years to come.”
Though Kerr was careful to point out that his health issues – which include debilitating migraines, among other symptoms – are not fully behind him, a combination of hot yoga, healthy eating, and relaxation have helped mitigate some of those problems.
It’s a testament to both the system and the culture he’s created in Golden State that during his lengthy absences the Warriors barely skipped a beat. Still, Kerr and everyone else is cautiously-optimistic that there won’t be too many more of those absences in the future.
