Steve Kerr on Steph Curry, MJ comparison, Luke Walton (Full Interview)
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr joined Dan to discuss Steph Curry and much more. Here are some of his comments …
— On when Curry will play again: “If he’s ready to play he can play. That’s based on what the trainers tell me and what we see with our own eyes in practice, and he hasn’t practiced with us yet. So, game 3 tomorrow, he’s not going to play. He’s getting better every day, but until he’s out on the floor with our team and scrimmaging and we’re seeing him move, and the trainers say it’s a go, we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. But no waytomorrow, and I would say maybe a slight chance on Monday if he gets great work in the next few days.”
— Comparing Jordan and Curry: “It’s a different feel. Michael was so dominant, physically, emotionally. I always got the sense that everybody was afraid of him – the opponents, the referees, his teammates [laughs]. He was so dominant just with his presence. With Steph it’s totally different. He looks like you’re little brother. He’s just out there running around and firing away and hitting these incredible shots. [Curry] dominates with his skill. Michael did too, but Michael dominated with just his very presence. And I think it’s a different feeling with Steph. It’s one of the reasons he’s so popular. I think people can actually relate. Not so much to his skill, but to his physical stature and just the fact that he looks like a normal guy. It’s remarkable that he can dominate the way that he does at that size.”
– On his role when he wasn’t coaching: “I was kind of behind the scenes visiting with the coaches pretty much every day. I just wasn’t traveling. Home games I’d stay in the locker room and watch from there. The fact that we had the continuity from last year helped a lot. We were keeping things rolling. Obviously Luke did an incredible job. And the players were great. A mature group that kept getting done what needed to be done.”
— On why they couldn’t split the Coach of the Year honor between him and Luke Walton: “I think they basically did. It goes in my name. But I only coached 39 games. I’m pretty sure no one has every won an individual award playing 39 games. I think basically the voters just said let’s give it to the Warriors staff for winning 73 games.”
— On whether Walton would have gotten the Lakers job if he hadn’t gotten hurt: “Maybe not. I think the fact Luke was out there on national TV giving interviews and the team was rolling. It proved to everybody this guy is ready. People would have seen him as a future head coach regardless. I think this just accelerated the process because people got a glimpse of him in the sideline and he knew what he was doing.”
— On other teams trying to copy Warriors’ system: “Our style is not that complicated. But where are you going to find guys like Steph and Klay? All we do is move the ball. We like to play fast and move the ball. It seems to work a lot better when Steph and Klay are out there. You have to have a lot of talent and shooting to do it.”
— On whether he could beat Curry and Thompson in a shooting contest: “I’ve got a shot. In my prime, just a HORSE contest, I would have had my moments. I could have beaten them both at my best. And they could absolutely beaten me at their best. We would have had some good battles.”