OAKLAND, CALIF. – Steve Kerr ambled down the hallway inside the bowels of Oracle Arena, just past the Golden State Warriors locker room, lugging a suitcase and chatting with owner Joe Lacob. Kerr spotted General Manager Bob Myers, one of his closest friends, and strode toward him, a smile on his face. Myers slung his arm around Kerr.
"Are you coaching Game 3?" Myers said, unable to keep from laughing.
"I'm not sure," Kerr deadpanned. "I may go out up 2-0."
Kerr continued down toward the exit, toward a flight to Cleveland, toward the next day in his harrowing, improbable, inspiring, historic trip through the NBA playoffs. The Warriors had again trounced the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-113 for a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Nothing about the result, another Warriors rout, seemed out of the ordinary. For Kerr, it had been an extraordinary night.
Kerr returned to the sideline after missing 11 games, the product of unbearable back pain stemming from back surgery two years ago. In late April, when Kerr experienced sudden, unexplainable pain in his back and head, he and the Warriors had no idea if he would coach again this season. His entire coaching future appeared to be in the balance.
In the 47 days between the last game Kerr coached and Game 2, the Warriors did not know how to proceed. There was no template, no precedent for a team — an overwhelming colossus, at that — losing its coach for health reasons in the middle of the playoffs. Kerr continued to shape game plans and run practices when health allowed. By the conference finals, he could travel and address the team at halftime.
Myers attempted to distill the complex situation into a simple question. Every day, he would ask Kerr, "How do you feel?" Once he felt healthy to return, without compromising his health or the Warriors, he would. The Warriors, Myers said, considered bringing Kerr back for Game 1 of the Finals before holding off. By Friday, they believed Game 2 might be realistic. By Saturday, they figured they would give it a shot. When Kerr walked into Oracle on Sunday afternoon, they finalized the decision.
"Like anything in life, no decision is backed with 100 percent certainty," Myers said. "But we felt good enough to give it a go."