Steve Kerr is a great coach for the Warriors and was when he became the head coach in 2014. He is building a legacy with the team that should not be questioned, ever.
People have implied that Kerr is only appearing to be a good head coach because he now has Kevin Durant on his squad. This remark is ignorant and does not accurately depict the impact he has had on this team.
It is pretty easy to win if you have good players on the court for you. For example, Tyron Lue kept up a facade as a good coach because he had LeBron James to make the team look good.
But Kerr faced challenges with this team, more so recently, that he handled well.
Overall, though, he got the team through all the bad and kept them grounded in all the good.
Kerr has had success winning
To start, he led the Warriors to a championship in his rookie coaching season. Talk about injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all you want, but the Cavaliers had. That should have been enough considering the Warriors did not have a bonafide superstar (Curry was not final form yet).
The next season, he helped the team achieve the greatest single-season record in NBA history. Then the team came back from down 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals to go to the NBA championship. Yes, they choked a 3-1 lead in the finals. But they were up 3-1 against a Cavaliers team that had Irving and Love back, only losing momentum because Draymond Green missed a game.
Otherwise, this coach took a young team made of mostly role players (2014-2015, 2015-2016 rosters) and made a dynasty. Kerr is 3-1 (should be 4-0) in the NBA Finals now.
Also, with Saturday’s win over Boston, he is the fastest coach in the four major sports to reach 300 wins (300-77 record).
He connects with his players
The most telling thing about him is he connects with the players and gets them to buy-in to what the team is doing. Kevin Durant recently said Kerr has players who are on the same page as him and want to win, just like he does.
Speaking of Durant, himself and Green got into a brief schism after Green took a game-winning shot, which he missed. The ball was supposed to go to Durant in the situation, and everyone admitted Green was in the wrong. There were tense feelings between players on the team the following week or two.
Since then, the team calmed down and they are riding a 10-game win streak. Kerr definitely talked to them and the team and made it clear that the in-fighting was stupid and needed to stop, and Golden State is back on track.
His strategy is simply amazing
If fans are still not convinced, Kerr’s gameplan for the team’s offense and defense is masterful, mostly the offense.
He implemented an offense based around three-point shooting. Not to mention, he made it possible for four-plus players, who all can score 20-plus points at any moment, to share the floor effectively.
Defensively, when needed, the team applies great ball pressure and makes opponents press.
People will have to look back on Kerr’s coaching career and abilities with awe and consider him great.
He made a modern-day dynasty out of a team that started the run with a young team of mostly role players. He implemented a great basketball strategy and connects with players like few coaches are able to.
Getting to the 300-mark that fast is only one of the many accolades fans will forever reference Steve Kerr by.
Featured image courtesy of Complex.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers! Follow Dillan on Twitter for more NBA content.