OAKLAND – Steve Kerr tried and failed to completely suppress the agony he was feeling. The man was in pain. He was talking the good fight, and he probably believed in what he was saying.
“Will you be ready for training camp,” I asked the Warriors coach last month.
“Yeah,” he said, “I’m sure I’ll be OK by then. I won’t be fully healed, but I should be able to push through.”
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[RATTO: Kerr's absence throws grenade into middle of Warriors locker room]
That he could not push through was conceded on Thursday. Three days into a training camp in which he had few comfortable minutes, Kerr decided to take a leave of absence from the team.
“After the first two days of training camp, I realized I need to take a step back and focus on my rehabilitation in order to be ready for the grind of another NBA season,” Kerr said in a statement. “As I noted last week, my summer was difficult and no fun due to the multiple back surgeries. At this point, I simply want to get healthy and back to my normal daily routine on and off the court.”
I was not surprised. When Kerr underwent surgery to repair a ruptured disk, he was told prior to the procedure, performed on July 28 in Los Angeles, there was a slight chance of an adverse reaction. Slight, as in maybe five percent.
Golden State Warriors
It was Kerr’s bad luck that he was in the minority.
So he went back in shortly after Labor Day for a second procedure. It caused him to miss the staff’s annual retreat in the Napa Valley. The hope was that this would alleviate the symptoms. Maybe it will, but not yet.
[POOLE: Warriors should be OK without Kerr . . . for now]
Kerr, 50, tried to soldier through because he’s paid well to prepare a team. Athletes are conditioned to carry on, to ignore the pain and do their job. That’s the only approach Kerr knows. He has had that mentality since he was a teenager. He was the scrawny guy diving for loose balls, proving he could keep up with those who possessed more talent – which was just about everybody else on the court.
Kerr endured a devastating knee injury during his career at the University of Arizona, only to come back even better. He survived 15 seasons in the NBA and although he never was a star, he always was an asset. His career 3-point shooting percentage (45.4) is the best in league history.
Recovering from back surgery would be another challenge for the guy who led the Warriors to an NBA championship in his first season as head coach on any level.
Then, on Thursday, common sense intervened.
“He was trying to gut through it the last few days, and I think we all realized this isn't the time to do that,” general manager Bob Myers said. “We're not in the postseason. We're not even in the regular season."
There is no knowing when Kerr will return. Lead assistant Luke Walton will be the interim head coach.
“We have a team full of vets now,” Walton said. “They know what we’re trying to accomplish, and they’re trying to accomplish the same thing.
“So it makes stepping into that role a lot easier. I have great relationships with everyone on our team. It’s not like I’m going to be out there doing anything different than Steve did. I’m just trying to keep the ship going in the right direction.”