News came across yesterday that Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr would be taking some time off to continue the rehab on his back ailment. Assistant head coach Luke Walton is supposed to be taking over the head coaching duties while Kerr steps aside. The timetable was uncertain and his leave is supposed to be ‘indefinite’.
Well, according to one member of the Golden State Warriors staff, assistant coach Ron Adams, Kerr won’t be missing a ton of time.
Ron Adams said the following on Sirius XM courtesy of Diamond Leung from Inside the Warriors.
“Quite frankly, he’s doing pretty well, but he’s having some headaches and some things like that that are dissipating slowly,” Adams told Sirius XM on Friday. “But I anticipate him back in the next few days, so I don’t think this is going to be a very long time period.”
The Warriors announced Thursday on the third day of training camp that Kerr was taking a leave of absence to recover from two offseason back surgeries and did not provide a timetable.
“The first couple of days of practice I thought he did well establishing our message,” Adams said. “He wasn’t quite himself.”
"I think without question Steve will be coaching in the home opener and will be there for the ring ceremony." — Ron Adams, Warriors Asst
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 2, 2015
And on interim head coach Luke Walton, Adams said the following.
“Luke is a basketball nut, but someone who does not rub people the wrong way yet, has the skills, and can speak the game well to players, so I think he has a really good combination of skills,” Adams said.
Kerr’s time off shouldn’t be a big problem. As Adams said, he was there to install the offense and his assistant coaches also know it very well so Kerr’s absence, even through preseason games, shouldn’t be too big of an issue.
For Walton, this is a good chance to show off his coaching chops. He coached the Warriors summer league team and appeared to do well but now, with defending champion veterans listening to his every word, it might be a test of what Luke has to offer.
