OAKLAND, Calif. — It was appropriate that the first substantial meeting between these two worldly men, soon to be first-year N.B.A. head coaches, would take place in an international airport.
Mark Bartelstein — whose company represents the two, Steve Kerr and David Blatt — had suggested to Kerr that he consider Blatt for an assistant’s position on his coaching staff with the Golden State Warriors. That is how Blatt, returning to the United States from Israel for his father’s funeral last June, found himself sitting opposite Kerr in a quiet spot at Los Angeles International Airport, talking about the game and, Blatt said, “about life in general.