Kerr's chat with Klay showcases Warriors coach's greatest strength

Kerr's chat with Klay showcases Warriors coach's greatest strength originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – With a segment of Warriors fans taking to social media blaming Steve Kerr for the team’s struggles and lining up for the right to fire him, the coach got a few flowers this week.

Klay Thompson sat at the podium Tuesday night and said a few words that illustrate what Kerr brings to the franchise.

Knowing Kerr is into the third year of his Twitter/X boycott, I asked him Thursday before tipoff against the Denver Nuggets if he was aware of Thompson’s comments.

He read it on Wednesday.

“It was good,” Kerr said. “For everybody, for all of us, perspective is so important. This is a very stressful job – but only relatively speaking. When you’ve been in this league for a while, you tend to take some things for granted and you start to focus on some of the difficult stuff. The injuries. The criticisms. That’s just human nature.”

Kerr is not particularly sensitive to criticisms of his players, but he is very sensitive to their reaction. Thompson has been targeted as frequently as anyone on the roster this season, and another poor game Sunday prompted Kerr to bench Thompson over the final eight minutes of the game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Thompson sat stone-faced on the bench, caught up in his struggles, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the game continued, and that the Warriors made a late comeback with him on the bench. He was, well, disengaged.

Which is why Kerr spent a few minutes offering words of guidance to Thompson on Monday, which he then relayed on Tuesday.

“Steve and I actually had a great conversation [Monday],” Thompson said after the Warriors took down the Orlando Magic. “That helped me relax a lot.

“Sometimes I forget just how successful and how lucky I’ve been to be part of championship teams, All-Star Games, gold medals. You want to get back to that level so badly, you can kind of get in your own way. Rather than forcing it, we had a conversation about enjoying the last chapter of my career and how lucky I truly am to still be playing this game, doing it at a high level, being a better mentor for the young guys, leading by example and having my energy right every game.”

This indicates that Kerr still is quite good at what he does best. Sure, he can be subjective about certain individuals on the roster, design wonderful ATOs and occasionally bungle a substitution. But Kerr’s most compelling strength – and the secret to his success – is his perspective.

“He helped me realize if I do have negative energy, how that affects the team in a poor manner,” Thompson said of Kerr. “We had a great conversation, and that helped me change my whole mindset and forget about shooting splits or points per game or All-Star Games. And just to enjoy being in this Warriors uniform and appreciate what we’ve built. Because it’s such a rare opportunity for any professional athlete to be a part of so much success and to pass that torch to the young guys and keep this thing going.”

Kerr’s eyesight regarding the big picture is fixed at 20-20, and that can’t be said of most professional sports figures. Another notable exception is the best player on the Warriors: Stephen Curry.

Which explains the solid relationship between two men central to the Warriors emerging from decades dwelling in the basement of the NBA. Kerr and Curry do not necessarily mirror each other’s beliefs, but they are alike in an element crucial to success.

They both have an admirable grasp of the basketball and revel in intense competition, but they also allow themselves to absorb the agonies and feel the joy of the ride.

“As a player,” Kerr said, “I always appreciated when I had coaches who offered perspective. There’s no question this is a difficult job at time and these guys go through a lot. And it’s also one of the greatest jobs in the world. So, you’ve got to find that balance.”

Kerr remains blissfully blind to the arrows coming his way, mostly about lineups or rotations or his overall effort to wreck a franchise that had gone 40 seasons without an NBA championship when he arrived in 2014 – but earned four in his first eight seasons as coach, the last coming 19 months ago.

But his perspective has been one of the greatest assets of the franchise. As long as he is the coach, that will not change.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast