SAN FRANCISCO – Steve Kerr will be back on the bench when the Warriors open their Western Conference finals series Wednesday night.
The coach, who missed the last three games after testing positive for Covid-19, returned to practice Sunday.
Kerr said his symptoms were mild and “not bad at all.” He mainly had a cough and dealt with some congestion.
Kerr, who is fully vaccinated, started wearing a mask before Game 3 of the Memphis series. He said he started to develop symptoms hours before Game 4, which prompted him to get tested just hours before tip-off.
“We’d had a couple of internal cases with staff members and I just felt like I better test,” he said after practice Sunday.
His thinking was this simple: “If I pass this onto the team, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Mike Brown learned just two hours before Game 4 that he would take over as acting head coach, something he had done during the 2017 playoffs when Kerr was sidelined by his back issue.
Despite his physical absence, Kerr remained in constant contact with the team, participating in coaches meetings and talking to players virtually. In general, though, he sat back and trusted Brown’s leadership and decision making.
“The main thing I told him is he had to follow his gut, he couldn’t sit there and think what would I do,” Kerr said. “He needed to follow his own instinct and the staff had to collaborate and do whatever they felt was necessary because they were the ones there in the fight while I was on the couch at home.”
Brown, who was named head coach of the Sacramento Kings last week, is now 13-1 in the postseason while filling in for Kerr.
Kerr praised Brown for his direction during his absence. Still, the Warriors are pleased to have their trusted leader back in commission.
“It’s good to see him,” Gary Payton II said of Kerr’s return. “It’s great to have his presence back in the locker room in the building… We’re glad that he made it out OK, made it good, came back healthier.”
Perhaps Kerr’s wife is even more excited about the coach’s return to the bench.
According to an Associated Press report, during Game 6 Friday night, Margot Kerr tweeted, “I never want to watch an NBA game with my husband again!”
“It was definitely very strange sitting at home and not being able to be part of it,” Kerr said Sunday. “… It’s good to be back.”
