OAKLAND, Calif. — Steve Kerr has walked into pregame press conferences more than 200 times in his three-year coaching career, and you can probably count on one hand how many times he was without a smile. But on Sunday afternoon, roughly two hours ahead of tip-off of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Warriors coach walked up to the dais with what might have been the wryest smirk of his life.
“Hi, everybody. Any questions?”
The Warriors head coach had missed 15 games — all Warriors wins — since stepping away from on-court coaching before Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals, as complications from a botched 2015 spinal surgery had arisen again, and Kerr, who had struggled with the debilitating effects of spinal fluid leaks for two seasons, didn’t have the energy to be on the sidelines.