The Warriors took game one of the NBA Finals Thursday night with a 113-91 victory over the Cavaliers. Now there is word, according to ESPN’s Marc Spears, Warriors ailing head coach Steve Kerr might return to the bench for game 2. A source close to Kerr told Spears, “He may coach Sunday. He’s feeling better.”
Kerr has been dealing with complications from a back operation he underwent almost two years ago. He has been in severe pain over the last year and half, dealt with the leak of spinal fluid and other very serious side effects as a result of the operation.
Kerr has been seen more frequently around the arena and practice facility over the past several weeks and has been feeling better. As a matter of fact, the word is if he was feeling slightly better on Wednesday he would have coached game 1.
As it stands, if Kerr does not experience any setbacks between now and Sunday he could return to the sideline. The Warriors have been run by assistant head coach Mike Brown in Kerr’s absence and are 13-0 in this year’s playoffs.
Either way Kerr does not want to be a distraction and will make a decision about coaching in the Finals sooner rather than later so the team can focus on the business at hand.
See video of Marcus Spears discussing Kerr on ESPN’s SportsCenter late night with Scott VanPelt.