The Ringer NBA Show - Coach Steve Kerr Returns | Real Ones

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

On the back of another championship season, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr returns to the ‘Real Ones’ podcast. Logan and Raja ask Kerr all about how he’ll approach this upcoming season, how the Warriors plan to develop their younger players and maintain their older players, and of course, they all tell stories along the way. Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Steve Kerr Producers: Bobby Wagner and Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, my name is Kevin Clark. I'm the host of a new football podcast called Slow Newsday. I want to tell you about it. On Mondays, Lindsay Jones and I will recap the weekend in football that was, as well as look ahead to what's next. On Wednesday, the normal Slow Newsday, the thing you've been watching for years, current players, current coaches, current analysts talking about the football world. And on Friday, it's a wildcard.

Could be some college football. Could be more pro stuff. It's a video podcast so you can watch it on Spotify or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. Follow on Spotify. It's Slow Newsday. What's popping? Real ones. Logan Murdoch here. Roger Bell there. Roger, last time we had this guest on, you started the podcast by Gcheck and him about trading you.

So I'm going to just give you the honors. I'm just going to give you the honors of introducing our next guest. What's up? Yeah. No, you do the intro. I mean, he's, I mean, look, it's we put it behind us, though. That was, you know, we're good. Yeah. We put it behind us. last podcast. It's water under many bridges, hot off of another NBA championship. And I got a thousand questions to ask Steve Kerr. Okay.

It's who is our guest. Okay. First foremost and most importantly. And I really, I probably burned it pre-pod, but I really want to know since I've never met Logan, right? How fucking annoying is Logan? Right?

Like, I've only got him in the... I'm really curious. It was just, it was a, it felt like a relief when he, you know, went off of the beat, the warrior's beat and, you know, and left to the ringer where it's like I kind of saw him from afar rather than seeing him every day. So it's, maybe it's just that, you know, Logan is a dish best served once a week rather than daily. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Yeah, you can't eat escargo every night. Right.

Not every night. Yeah. Logan, are you there? I'm here, man. I'm here. I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that shit. Steve, who is, you know, a lot of things, but also is an officiator of weddings, Steve? I heard that you're coming off the heels of officiating a wedding in Montana. Is that true? This is true. This is true. Nick Uren, who is in our front office, who I actually hired in Phoenix way back. in I think 2008 or 2009.

Just after I got traded. Yeah. Sorry. My bad. I thought we were. My bad. It was actually it was Nick's suggestion that we make that trade. God, dog it.

Blame him. But no, Nick, Nick came to Golden State in 2014, you know, when I got the coaching job. And he was on our coaching staff for five or six years. Now he's in management and great friend. So he asked me, he and his fiance. Nancy Casey asked me to marry them, which was a huge honor and pretty nerve-wracking, I must say. So I pulled it off. It was last Saturday in Montana and all went relatively smoothly.

So we're good. That was going to actually be my question of the addresses that you've had to have given and the performances that you've had to make standing up in front of thousands of people, Steve. How nerve-wracking was that? Well, that and my don't. daughter's wedding, which was a month ago doing the father of the bride speech. Those were the two, you know, the two big ones this summer and different from, you know, doing a postgame interview with people like Logan. So, yeah. Congratulations, by the way. That's pretty cool. It was, it was,

it was really cool. My daughter's wedding, that's, uh, my son got married. a year ago, which was really special, but there's something about daughters. It's different. It's different. And so very, very emotional and beautiful. And so, yeah, it's been a big summer. Logan, I didn't get to know them well. Congrats against D.

But, I mean, they were in their teens when we were doing like training camp out in San Diego and stuff like that. Man, it's crazy how time flies. That's nuts. Yeah, San Diego is a pretty good spot for training. Roger, do you remember when we would, Aaron Nelson would take the whole team out into the ocean after practice for like water therapy. Yeah, yeah. That's a hell of a way to get ready for the NBA season.

That'll cleanse your soul. I love Aaron and chess, man. I follow them on on different social platforms and stuff like that. He's doing really good. So let me ask you, Steve, about because I haven't been around an NBA team in a while, how much of what those guys were doing as a training staff in Phoenix, that was so cutting edge in terms of preventative and the soft tissue work and stuff like that

is just normal now. Is that just prevalent across the league? Yeah, yeah. It's pretty much what everybody believes. And I agree with you. I think Aaron and his staff in Phoenix were cutting edge and kind of at the forefront of what you're seeing now. And what's been added really is all of the monitoring that goes on.

players were in the catapult system where the training staff can keep track of everything, you know, heart rate and load and all that stuff. We also have the cameras in every arena now. So at the end of every game, you can see the training staff will actually look at all this data, you know, how much movement guys covered, the speed in which they covered, covered it, and how that translates to fatigue and, you know, potential risk for injury and when they might need a day off. It's, it's amazing the amount of information that we have now that we didn't have, you know, back when I played and that we were starting to get, I think, you know,

when you were in Phoenix. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds. That's pretty remarkable. Um, I, sorry, Logan, like, you know how I get, man, but I got another question about that. Like, he loves you, Steve. He loves you guys. This is what he does during the interviews that he loves with the people man, I miss being around it a little bit, man. I do. So how much of what you guys get from all of that information and data compiled, how much of it goes into like the plan for X player? And then how strictly do you guys kind of stick to that plan versus kind of go by the gut and try to win games? You know, as a case by case or are you truly on the numbers? Like, hey, man, it says we got to sit them. So we're sitting them. Like how are you guys approaching that?

Well, it really dictates how we practice. And it usually matches up pretty well. Like, you know, as a coach, I mean, it's your job to pace your team and to understand the rigors of the journey. And so most days when I come in and I'm thinking we need a light practice, most days when that happens, the training staff will tell me, hey, we need a light practice. So we're really, you know, the numbers are kind of backing up what I already think. As far as games, we go over before the season even start.

starts. We look at the load that's potentially going to be on every player. And then there's a couple of games that kind of makes some sense where it's like, hey, this is a massive load on the schedule here over the previous two weeks. You know, this would be a good night for someone to take the night off. But then it's all up to circumstances. You know, if somebody has missed a couple games. Now all of a sudden, the circumstance changes and, you know, you readjust on the fly. But we do have a decent idea of how we want to handle our older guys and, you know, how we want to give them a night off occasionally. Yep.

Steve, with this iteration of the roster, you guys are coming off of a title, which you guys have said is unexpected. It kind of reminds me, honestly, of when you were with the 96 Bulls and, like, the next year, right? You know, you guys have a... a year off, or two years off, basically, of circumstance. You know, you guys are going into this season where you guys are defending a title. I don't know if it's expectedly or unexpectedly, but how are you seeing how you're going to coach this season? What are you looking to, what do you think this season is going to bring in terms of how you need to coach it? Well, I think it'll be an extension from last season, but with the knowledge of how good we can be.

You know, last year we had this plan to develop our young guys, you know, Wiseman, Cominga, Moody, Jordan Poole. And we thought, you know, we can get back into contention for a title, but we didn't really know. We knew Clay was going to come back. So we felt like we could do both. And as it turned out, obviously, we ended up, you know, winning the title. And, you know, so this year is really an extension of that. We still need to develop those young guys because our older guys are, you know, they're on the back nine. now of their careers.

But the knowledge of, hey, we just want a championship. We know how to do this. I think it gives us a little more confidence in the plan going forward that as long as we're healthy and functioning well going into the postseason, we can do this again. So I don't know if a lot of, you know, listeners know, and I don't know if you guys even philosophically still do it, Steve. But like at exit interviews, you know, when a season would be over, you'd go in, you'd sit with your GM and your coach, especially when you were one of these young players of Steve's talking

about. And, you know, there would be like, hey, Raj, like you did X, Y, and Z. Here's where we see you. Here's what we'd ideally like you to progress at and get better at, spend some time focusing on this in the summer. So as it pertains to these young guys, Steve, and I don't know if you feel comfortable, but like, what do you see each one of them in terms of their development? What's the next step that you guys like to see them take? Yeah, I mean, each one is different. You know, Jordan Poole took a leap last year and became really high. high level player. And so, you know, his, his next step is to become a better two-way guy. You know, he's a really dynamic offensive player. He's much stronger and more athletic than I think

people realize, even maybe more than he realizes. So can he become a two-way guy like Clay Thompson? You know, that's his next step. And you go down the list and each guy sort of has, you know, his things that he's got to improve upon. And for Wiseman, it's really about getting healthy, you know, missing all of last year. It just needs to play. And good thing is he's had a great summer. He's been, you know, playing pickup every day and he's doing great. There's going to be a natural progression with him because he's a big man.

Big guys usually take longer to develop. And he just needs reps. But more than anything, he needs to be healthy. So that's for him. I could keep going down the list. But we need to do all this within the context of trying to win games and trying to, you know, prepare ourselves for the playoffs, too. so it's not an easy task because there are going to be nights where these guys, you know, play a lot.

There's going to be nights where they don't play as much and, you know, we've got to keep it all going. You referenced Wiseman, and I think the last time you were on the pod, Wiseman was in the midst as the up and down rookie year, right? It would show really great spurts. I remember that dunk in Detroit where he just goes full court and he just slams and it just looks like something we haven't really seen before out of a center on your roster. But right now, what are your, what is it a reasonable expectations for him this season in your eyes, right? Because he hasn't played a lot of basketball, but he does show spurts when he can. What is it a reasonable expectation from him if you want to win a title this season? Well, I mean, to be fair to him and to to Loon, you know, Lunes are starting five.

I mean, he's a, he's a championship player. He's won multiple rings. He's proven in the playoffs that he can switch and guard almost anybody out there. and also has a wherewithal to be really effective offensively because of his knowledge, his screen setting, his recognition of patterns, all that. So, you know, realistically, Wise will back up Loon, but Wise has the capability to do some things that Loon can't, you know, number one being a, you know, a lob threat. So we've got to put Wise in a position where, you know, he can be diving to the rim,

giving us that vertical spacing that we haven't had maybe since Javail was here. He runs the floor beautifully. The biggest thing for James is, you know, he has the capability to be a really dominant defender with his size and speed. But it takes a ton of reps. And so we're going to be asking him to defend and run the floor and be that lob thread. And no doubt in my mind, he's going to get better and better as the season goes on and he's got a great future.

I have two questions. The first would be, they're both about vets, though. The Andrew Wiggins piece, when he came over to you guys, I actually thought it was a great trade. And I thought it was one of those situations where because of maybe what was in Minnesota and how that had weighed on him, I thought that he'd kind of be refreshed and what the culture you guys had in place would actually be really, really good. And it turned out that he was integral to like the success last season.

How quickly would you guys see that like in the practice environment? Was there a, was there a, you know, progression to that? Or did he hit the bricks and just you were like, yes, this is the piece, you know, that we've been missing? It was somewhere in between that, Rajah. I mean, he played about 15 games that first year when we traded for him. And then the pandemic hit and our season got cut short. But during those 15 games, he was really good defensively. And we had just lost all of our wing defense.

You know, Igadala, Livingston, Kevin, you know, Clay was injured. So we had very low size and athleticism on the wing. And so it was really a positional trade that made a lot of sense. But we were all really pleasantly surprised at how good he was defensively right away. I think over the last a couple of years, what's happened is he's understood his role better and better as he played next to Steph. and he played next to Clay. And we sort of, our team kind of reformed, you know, after all the injuries.

And then it was really clear to him by the end of last year, like, this is what I'm going to do. Right. I'll lock people. I'm going to be, I'm going to guard the best guy. I want to put pressure on with my athleticism and length all game. And then I'll be a secondary score, you know, after Steph, after Clay. And he played that role perfectly. I mean, he was so good in the playoffs, guarding Luca, guarding Jason Tatum,

and guarding a jaw, guarding some of the best players in the league. So love Wigs. He's an amazing guy to coach and a great teammate. And I really feel like he's found kind of his perfect role here. That's awesome. My next question, it kind of ties into it. It's about Clay, obviously, and kind of that catastrophic type of injury. And I've always kind of thought that that was kind of a two-year.

Like, you're back in a year, but it takes you, you know, another six to nine months to really get back. And first of all, how's he looking? I assume he's looking great. And then secondly, specific to the playoffs, and he was a little hot and cold. And it looked to me like he was just maybe rushing a little bit, maybe, because he had been off for so long. Is that, did you guys see that? And how's he looking now? Well, he's been in Orange County all summer, which is his summer home and been training down there.

So we've had great reports from him. and his brother who's on our staff in player development now, Mikey, everything's going really well. I think Clay's in a great place. We've texted the summer. I know he's had a lot of fun watching his brother hit home runs for the Dodgers. Like that's a happy family right now, you know. And a lot of success going on, a lot of joy. And it's just so great to see Clay back and doing what he loves to do. And I agree with you, Roger. I think, you know, now that he's had half a season under his belt and a full summer of preparation for camp, I think he'll have a much more consistent year this year. How important was Mikey last year for you guys? Because he was, he wasn't

officially on staff, but he was, you know, playing in pickup games, trying to get Clayback right and things like that, just around a lot. Did that help just get ease him back into the fold midseason in the way that you guys were able to? What was the adjustment when he got, when Clay got back? Well, we, you know, one of the, if people out there who are watching don't, don't know this, what's going on in the league nowadays is pretty much every team's got four or five guys on the development staff who are capable of playing pickup. Because what happens is, you know, season starts, you got approximately five guys who

don't play much, who aren't in the rotation. and on that next day when you have, you know, in between games, those five guys need to play, but you need more bodies. And so we, like every team now, we specifically hire development coaches who can still play. Mikey played for Santa Cruz for our G-League team for years. He still plays for the Bahamian national team. So he can still play and the fact that he knows Clay better than any of us.

He made it a perfect hire to bring Mikey board. So that's been, he's been a really good addition. And we've got other young guys, too, who are out there playing pickup, you know, with all our young guys every day in between games. And it's a component to the NBA that didn't used to exist that now is pretty, pretty much commonplace. So, Logan, my pickup games, listen, bro, 03, all right. 03, Dallas Mavericks.

Matter of fact, Steve Kerr broke our. nothing hearts that year. He was with San Antonio and made like, what was it? That was old-ass Steve Kerr too, man. That was. I'm like, yo, Nellie, we're just going to, we're just going to sit in this damn zone and let him torch us. Let me get some of that, man.

Nellie was like, no, two, three, double face, double face. But what he's talking about is like we, you know, I played sometimes, didn't play other times and you'd go downstairs. It was like Rolando Blackman. We had a staff, Roe could still play a little bit, but to stay and shape, it would be a pickup game with like me, Popeye Jones, Avery Johnson, Tariq Abdulwahad.

It'd be like five of us and Rolando Blackman trying to get a running, you know? I got to take it one step further, Rajah, because when I played early in my career, you know, we had two assistant coaches and that was it, you know, and so you didn't have anybody even to rebound.

So, you know, practice would end. I'm not kidding, we would actually scrimmage with the media. I'm not kidding. That's great. So you would scrimmage with somebody like me? Yes. And Logan, I would have busted your ass.

Yes. Yes. I mean, you would have done so much for my confidence. But we literally used to have pick up games. Literally would be like the four or five guys who weren't in the rotation. It's in Cleveland in the old Richfield Coliseum on the fifth floor. Our practice, the media would be there, you know, doing post-practice stuff. And then it'd be like, all right, who's in?

You know, the guy who just interviewed me is now guarding me, you know, and that's that's fantastic. Oh, that's fantastic. I'm sure there have been plenty of times where I've asked Steve some shit. I actually, a little story time. I remember when I was at NBC, it was before Clay, like there was some speculation that Clay was going to come back. I remember that Steve after the finals?

He was going to come back and play after he, I think he hurt his knee. And I, we had like a sit down and I asked Steve, like, is, is Clay going to play? and Steve was like on record he was like nah and then it just became his whole thing to start the season and then the next the next day Steve says blame Logan for everything all the everything that went off the whole thing I'm sure he wanted it was on the basketball court I'm sure he wanted to take me one-on-one right after that I was like I remember I think I usually get in trouble when I when I talk to me either go on your podcast with you guys or talk to you you know I think things just get a little too comfortable and then I end up, you know, saying something that ends up

a headline. So my guard is up today. Just so you guys know. I can imagine last time you got, we got a little, last time we won't talk about that, but last time I've got a little real. I feel like one person that we had a hell of a summer, we've been talking a lot, he just had like a Rolling Stone. I don't know who he is right now. I had a Rolling Stone cover. Steph, it was a different Steph last year that I've been used to seen, right? It was like, Steph always talked a little shit, but it was a little bit

more just like from Steph last year. What was the biggest difference you saw? And what were you got to say, right? No, I want you to finish, but I want to give you your flowers because you said multiple times in the process that Steph was on that. And I was saying, nah, no, no, Steph's not on that. Like, Steph's just

you know, locked in doing what he does. And Logan always maintained, no, Steph's got a point to proof. and so I want to give you your flowers because it seemed in retrospect like he did, yes. Thanks, bro. What was Steph on? He looked like 50 cents. He was buffed a little bit.

He gained some pounds. He was in the weight room. What kind of stuff was Steph last year? Well, you got to understand the guy's a killer. You know, he is a killer. And people always look at him as the joyful guy who's, you know, he's knocking down these half-court shots and chiming. But he is an absolute killer.

And like all killers, you know, whether you're talking, you know, Michael Jordan or, you know, Tim Duncan, you know, guys show it in a different way. You know, Timmy was a killer. We know that. But he, you know, you knew it with Michael. But with Steph, you know, if you don't really know him, you may not understand his competitiveness. And two years of not being in the playoffs and, you know, multiple years of people saying, you know, well, he's never won finals MVP. he that, you know, he used every bit of that to motivate himself as great players tend to do. And he was on a mission all last year. And I think once the playoffs started, you know, he realized, man, we got a shot here. You know, and he was, especially in that Boston series, boy, he was, he was locked in.

What game was that game, was that game, that game five? Was that game, you got to forgive me, man. Game four. Was that the one where he came out? And he was like screaming at the crowd and shit. Yeah, that was that was, oh, I said, yeah, that's different stuff for sure. Yeah. You know, we talked about a lot of guys on the back nine of their careers right now.

Not to say that they're, you know, by any means done. I'm just saying, you know, they're closer to the end than they are in the beginning. Steph's obviously the face of that. Where is he in his career? Like, do you think the finals was just a manifestation of him saying, yo, I only got a couple more of these left? I got a couple more shots at this thing. I need to take more. I need to take advantage of this moment.

Do you see a more locked-iniveness in him? Where do you see in him over going into this season? What is your scouting report? Well, I think you're right. I mean, having been through the injury two years ago that kept him out all season and then not making the playoffs the next year, there was no doubt part of him was, you know, hey, we got to take advantage of these opportunities when they come

because there may not be many more. but having said that, the guy keeps himself in amazing shape. He's been in the building, working out, training. He's ready to have another great year. So he's one of those guys you don't necessarily put a clock on, you know,

a little bit like our guy, Steve Nash, like he's a unicorn. Like it wouldn't shock me at all if Steph did what Steve did and, you know, play at a high level until he was 40 years old. But who knows, we'll see how it all plays out. Yeah, another killer that doesn't come across like a killer at a time. And I do think there's something, I mean, just off the top that I think, well, definitely in today's, you know, rehab and just the knowledge of how to treat your body and all the things that they're at their disposal. Now, Steve was also very cutting edge with that in terms of diet and just prep and preventative type of stuff with Rick Celebrini, I think it was at the time, right?

He's on the warrior staff. Right, right, right. So, like, but the fact that both of those guys play under the rim to a certain degree, like, and you're not just pounding the way that, that, that above the rim type of point card, I think speaks to maybe some longevity there. I did have a question, man. I got lost in my own damn thoughts, but, okay, here it is. How do you manage, how do you manage, Steve?

When you're, you have a young, burgeoning star in, let's say, Looney, and then you have you know, Kaminga, who looks like he's ready. And then Jordan Poole was just fantastic. And fantastic last year. And you've got to integrate these pieces, right? And from a coaching perspective, there are but so many balls. I mean, it's just the way it goes, right? And obviously it's Steph and Clay or your, but what is the philosophy that we're going to

pick the tempo up even more? It's just ball movement, people movement. Like, how do you guys approach that? Yeah, I mean, we're always going to play a certain way, especially with Steph and Dremont, those guys are really unique players. Right. and they have a six cents between them. So, you know, they're high pick and roll game.

They're hitting a handback game. You know, that's always going to be the best thing that we do. But, you know, we talk about Wiseman, you know, the lob threat. You know, we'll try to incorporate more of that into our game. With Cominga, he's such a dynamic athlete. He should be, you know, a late clock isolation guy who can, a little bit like Kauai or Paul George, who can get the ball on the elbow and create a shot. that's who ultimately we'd like to see JK become, but he's still very young and he's got to,

you know, develop and learn the game, learn his opponents, learn the league, all that stuff. But for me, the job is really about understanding every player's circumstances. Because every guy, you know this, like every guy comes in, maybe he's going to be a free agent at the end of the year, maybe he's on a non-guaranteed trying to hang on to his career, maybe he's Steph Curry and trying to, you know, play to this level that everybody expects. All of those things come with a ton of pressure. And so it's my job as a coach to understand those set of circumstances for each guy and help each guy kind of learn to navigate their circumstances within the context of what we're

trying to do as a team. And that's the job, you know, much more so than what play we're going to run, you know. I got you. Who's J.K.'s guy on your stats, Steve? Does you have a guy? Kenny Atkinson has worked with him really closely, and Kenny's done a great job. You know, it's really interesting the way the league works now. You get, you know, with a lot of these young lottery picks.

Wise was the second pick, J.K., the seventh pick. Most lottery picks go to teams that are rebuilding. And so you throw them out there and you let them make their mistakes. but for us, we're obviously a championship team. And so we're trying to develop these guys and win at the same time. And it doesn't always go hand in hand with a lot of playing time. Sometimes it means it's learning some tough lessons. And so it takes a lot of maturity for these young guys to have to go through that process,

especially seeing their fellow draftees from that year playing 13. five minutes a night and being named rookie of the year and all that stuff. It's not easy. So, but on the plus side, you're learning how to be a champion. You're learning how to win from some of the best guys in the league. How is JK adjusting to just being on this type of environment, right? Because he's, he's, you know, when he has a, normally with a rookie or a second year player, like if they have a bad summer league game, their teammate who's very, very popular, like,

Draymond Green is not like, is not publicly criticizing him, right? Or like if you go on first take, JK is getting criticized. How does he both like, how are you trying to make sure he has tunnel vision? I guess he's the guy that that is the one that everyone's talking about now. How does he, how do you make sure that he has that and stays consistent in his role? Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's communicating every day. You know, it's having a, you know, a mentor with. then the team, Andrea Godala, played that role last year. Hopefully he's going to play that role again this year if he decides to come back. It's daily lessons from Steph and Dremont discussions.

It's the resources that we provide in terms of sports psychologists and mindfulness trainers, people who can help with this kind of thing. I think it's never been more difficult to be a pro athlete than right now because of social media, because of all the TV shows all day long that are picking apart everything. There's just so much judgment. And as a young person, that's not easy to deal with. So it's our job to try to help them through all that. I feel like I ask you this, like at least once a year.

This is my annual question for you. And I'm asking you this on the heels of the finals. It's about dray mongering. And you did, you know, there were times, the first time I'd ever seen, you kind of have to bench him at a big moment. You did bring him back. I think it was game four. It was the game that Steph went on.

You bench him, I'm thinking, like, the seven-minute mark or the six-minute mark. You brought him back. And he was really good about it. And that seemed like the next evolution of you guys is a relationship of having to do that. So I guess my question to you, the yearly question is, how is the relationship with Jremont Greenman? How was it evolved at this point to where you can do something like that? He bounced back, be a good soldier about it, and you guys go win a title. How did you guys get to that point?

I just think eight years of being together. We've built up a lot of trust together. He's the ultimate winner. If I'm coaching a team trying to win a championship, I want Draymond Green on my team. Like that's what he does. He wins. And he brings an edge that is going to be there,

whether it's a game, a practice, a shoot-around. I want that. And so part of that package includes some confrontation and the occasional argument. And I embrace that because I think that's part of what allows our team to play with an edge and play with the competitiveness that we need. And he and I have, you know, we've been through plenty and we trust each other and love each other. And like I said, I will take Dramon any day of the week.

And I hope he plays here his whole career. And I hope I can coach him for as long as possible. What was that game four like, though? Bro, you ain't bench nobody. He chose to go in a different direction. I'm just asking the question. He did what was the best for team. But I would say this, though.

I think maturity, not to, not the, you didn't ask me the question, right? But there's some maturity from a player's perspective, like, that you gain. And when you are a winner sometimes, like, and I too agree that, that, that, that, Dremont is a consummate winner. Sometimes you got to be big enough to say, hey, man, whoever that, whoever's number got called is what it's going to take right now. And that doesn't mean that mine's not going to get called again. But right now in this moment, when all the chips are on the table, like Steve's the guy in that seed, he called that number.

And I got to live with that. And it, you know, that's part of it. It worked. Yeah. They won. They worked. Yeah. You guys know this too. And Rajah, you live this on both ends.

But, you know, you go to a group that clicks, you stay with that group, you know. And even if Steph Curry is on the, on. on the bench. If our group is going, what we're staying with that group and you ride it out until, until you feel like the run is over. And so, you know, when I made that sub, it wasn't, like Roger said, I wasn't benching Draymond. I was, I was bringing Looney in, I was going to give Draymond a couple of minutes rest and bring them back for the stretch run. But we just got on a good run. And so we stayed with it. And our vets understand that. That's the way we do it all regular season. And it's the only way to do it really, because if a group's roll,

and you go, no, I got to, you know, appease my starters and get them back in. Now you lose the whole team, you know, you have to reward groups that are playing well. Did I skip that? Did it, did you got anything, Ron? No, no, no. No, I thought it was, I thought it was a good. I mean, look, I, I, because I too watched that in real time. And when, when Steve made the move, right?

Like, you know, you were like, okay, well, this is, this is a pretty significant move right here. And then it clicked. And so, you know, watching it, I could see why you would have that question. But then sitting back and watching it unfold and understanding why the pieces were moved on the chessboard, you're looking. Like, as a coach, like, I can't speak for you necessarily, Steve, but I was watching the game. Like, in that moment, you're trying to figure out what lineup is going to get this done. Like, what pieces can I move? And it can't be personal and it can't be feelings.

I mean, we're greater good. It's collective right here, right? So when you find what's working, hey, baby, we're rolling. And then, you know, we'll figure it out after the game and come right back and do it again next time. I would be remiss if I didn't bring this up with you two guys here. We're talking about the Robert Sarver has been. Investigation has concluded on him. And a lot of different things have come out in terms of, you know, racist, misogynist and sexist things that have happened.

I remember, Steve, you did come out with a quote earlier in the season, last season, talking about how you had never seen that. now seeing the investigation come out. What is your response to that? And what do you think? What is your overall response to what has come out from that investigation? Well, as I said, you know, back when I was asked about it months ago, and I was interviewed for the investigation, I never saw anything that suggested racism. What I saw was, you know, stuff that was inappropriate.

appropriate, and I think there's a difference. But my perspective versus, you know, your perspective as an African-American male, like, it could be two different perspectives because, you know, we are, we are different people. So what I, you know, what I see might be totally different or might be a different perspective from what you would think. So I just think that everybody is in a really difficult spot, including Adam Silver. When you make a decision like this, if you're the commissioner, there's a ton of legal ramifications. Is there enough, is there enough there there to do, you know, what you did with Donald Sterling and, you know, eliminate somebody from the league? And Adam Silver's mind, there was not. And that's what he said. And, you know, I think

I respect what the league, the way the league carries itself, the way the league handles things. Adam and our whole league have always been really at the forefront of social justice movements and supportive of players and coaches. I have a lot of faith in the league and I know how difficult that whole situation was for Adam. So this is one of those where there's no easy answer. Yeah. I've said this before as well, Steve.

I was never in a situation with Robert where I witness any race. or felt like he was being racist towards me or anything like that. I've always said, not unlike what you just said, I just had a, I had encounters with him that at times were just a little, maybe tactless. And I've gone as far as to say, I don't think he's in the minority when you're dealing with a group of like super, uber wealthy, you know, people who are probably used to, like, you're probably going to run across that, you know? And so, you know, Adam Silver is in a really, really tough spot.

Like that to your point, like really tough spot. And I think people can be disappointed. So I've heard some people that say they're disappointed in the outcome on both sides of it. But at the end of the day, you have to trust the commission that what he was able to find legally supports what, you know, the ruling that he came down with. So, you know, it's a tough situation. But I will say again, I've Robert Starver, I never witnessed any racism. I did witness off-color things that I think, you know, if I'm being frank in a lot of, ownership, not all of them, but like people with those type of resources and they're used to

have in their way and shit like that, it's going to happen. It was tough to read that the findings of that investigation. I will say that. But I did want to get your take on that. I want to switch gears though, Steve. I did some research. Well, the easiest part of the resources that you have four titles as a head coach. That was easy. But of the five coaches that have won four or more titles. I'm going to read these names. There's Steve Kerr. There's John Kudla of Minneapolis Lakers. Yeah, had to go back into that one. Pat Riley, Greg Popovich, Red Hourback in Phil Jackson. Now, three of those four guys coached well into their 60s. You are 56, sir. Do you see yourself coaching into like the 60s and the 70s and maybe 80s? I don't know. You in good health. You might be

able to do it. How long do you see yourself doing this? I don't know. I love doing. doing it. I mean, that's the main thing is that I really enjoy waking up and want to practice every day. So as long as I'm enjoying it, I'm going to keep doing it. There's nothing else that I would rather be doing. I would not be great, you know, retiring and, you know, sitting around and, you know, sleeping in and playing golf every day. That wouldn't be ideal for me. So I love what I do. I love working with the people I work with. I've been incredibly lucky to coach Steph, Draymond, Clay, Andre, this whole group, this whole group. This whole. core. So they're still here. And, uh, and, and, you know, so am I. So I feel blessed just to be in

this position. But you just kind of go year by year and you see how everything goes. And I don't really think too much about, you know, what's going to be happening two, three years from now. You know, I known Steve since he played and then, you know, when he worked with sons like when he busted Joe ass, when he busted Joe ass and Dallas. There's a fuck, man. What'd you guys play? You guys played New Jersey. You'd be in New Jersey in the finals that year? Was it in New Jersey? Yeah. But they also beat the Lakers. They also beat my like, 03 Lakers,

which really hurt. They beat them in six. I would, yeah. Who was bad? I mean, we had to go through the Kings that year. The Kings were good, too. That was like Webb and Vlady and Pagia. That was a low-buck. Are you making excuses right now? No, no, no, no, no. The excuse I will make is Dirk got hurt.

Dirk got hurt. Roger, was that the year? You guys were up 3-0 on Portland and they tied it at 3 and you won game seven. Was that where you on that? Oh, I was. That was a terrifying series.

I mean, I would love to know from you. What did that feel like? I mean, nobody's ever lost a 3-0 league and they win the next three. Yeah. So they didn't, so I had a really hot and cold relationship with Nelly in terms of playing time. Like I always love Nelly, but he'd, like, I started half the games and then I didn't play in like half the games.

So it was like hit or miss. I did not play much in that series at all, Steve. So it was really scary and helpless. And I just, you know, I was like just the nervous. I couldn't get any of that out because I couldn't hoop. You know, and it was it was tough. Scotty was like on his old long vet mode, just tying stuff together. Bonsie was a beast.

Man, my question, oh, my question for you was like, when did you know? No, seriously. Like, you had a bunch of great mentors. as coaches, but you were in the front office. And like, when were you like, you know, this isn't it? I want to, I, that's what I want to do. Like, I'm built for that. A couple weeks into the gym job. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I did not love being upstairs. I like being on the court. I like being with the players. I like being in practice. I like the camaraderie, the relationships that come with being in the fight rather than sort of looking down on the fight. I wasn't, I never felt like I was

very good at the job. I needed to grow into it. And it was, you remember this. I came in at a time where the team was really good, but, you know, maybe just, just on the backside, you know. And and so it was a really tough spot to come into when I just didn't have the experience that, that I probably needed. And so I didn't really feel like I was affected. and good at the job and and I felt removed from the team. And so I kind of knew right away that this was not a long-term thing that I wanted to get into coaching eventually. Yeah. That's it.

It's, I mean, I didn't go into, I had my family was really young Steve. And I don't know. Logan probably knows this, but I took the job with Griff when I went to Cleveland, kind of trying to learn the ropes, you know, of behind the scenes and, you know, try to see where that took me. And not unlike you, like, it was pretty quick where I was like, you don't have the same. like access, you don't have your hands in it the same way. It's cool, but you're not a part of the product in the way you're used to being a part of the product. Yeah. So that's pretty cool. I told Bob Myers, it's like when you're, you go to a family reunion, you know, if you're a coach, like you're, you're the dad in the family reunion. You know, if you're the GM, you're like

the second cousin, you know, you're kind of on the outskirts, like you're not really sure who that is. And, you know, it's like, it's a different feeling. It is. It's like, It is. You get this side eye when you're around. Everybody's looking at you out of his last year. No, uh-oh. You know, nobody's happy to see you. You know, it's like a weird vibe. That's a weird guy. There was a great moment on the floor, like the parquet floor after game six after the Warriors won, where like, Steve, I'm just going to say, dog, you were in a bag. You were just in a, like, in a different, like, I don't know how lit you were at that point, but I remember you walking. you and Bob Myers were walking on the floor.

I don't know. I know Bob didn't have no shoes on, but I think you might not have shoes on either. I'm not sure. But Bob, I think, said something about like the draft coming up. Like, oh, shit, we got to get ready. And you take a swig of your, of your, he takes a swig of his champagne and it's like,

and then walks off. Is that what you? I think it was to like some media interview, but he looks at Bob was like, and then like, It walks off my job. Is that why it's really better right now for you to be a coach at a GM? Is that what is good?

Like, you ain't got to think about that in the way that Bob does. Yeah, no, it's true. It's true. And Bob and I are best of friends. And by the way, he's the dad at the family reunion, you know, with our franchise. Oh, I was the first time I realized that. It was the first time I realized that. He's right in the thick of it because he's, you know, he really.

has such a close relationship with Tremont and Steph and Andre. And he's been here long enough where those relationships are rock solid. But I think, you know, Bob and I are such good friends. And I trust him so much. But the difficulty of the GM job is that you have, if you're the GM, you can make any move you want. There's a million moves. Really, there's an unlimited number of moves you can make.

You can do anything you want. It's a blank canvas and you get to paint. If you're the coach, the players are there. You look at the puzzle and you go, all right, here's how I'm going to figure it out. So think about the difference in that. Like, as a coach, you have answers that you can find on film and on the practice floor. But as a GM, you're looking at guys in college around the NBA. You're thinking about putting a team together.

That's intimidating. to try to put a group together from scratch when the possibilities are literally endless, that's a difficult job. No, it is. It's like going shopping and being like a professional food buyer, but you can't cook it. Like you can get all these ingredients,

and then you've got to trust some other knucklehead to cook the shit. You're like, no, no, no, no. It's like y'all buying me food to cook. It's not, it's there. I don't know how to do that. Steve, you talked about Bob, and I know last season, you know, there was, we didn't know where it was going to go, but you guys also had a lot of guys under contract for this season coming up. So there was a little leeway of, like, what's your roster. There was a lot more certainty of what your roster was going to look like.

This season coming up next year, the roster's pretty uncertain with some core guys, right? Andrew Wiggins won. And, you know, I don't want to get into the business of it, but it is a, you know, is there a. certain level of urgency or a certain level of, um, we got to get it done this season if we're going to win a title versus last season where it was like, okay, we don't know what's going on. We're kind of figuring things out. Do you, do you see a different level of urgency this season? No, because we actually did win a title, you know, like, like, sure.

Yeah. Yeah. The reset button. Yeah. So it's really more about let's get greedy, you know, like, like I think what you're talking about is really definitely a thing. with teams that are contending that haven't gotten over the hump yet. So once you have gotten over the hump, now it becomes,

all right, we're playing with a little house money, we've got nothing to prove. And yet if we don't find an edge and we don't have something to really dig our teeth into, then we're in trouble because everybody else is coming after us. So it's a slightly different position to be in. But I think with our guys, they're so competitive. I talked about Stap Clay is a killer. Ramon's a killer.

These guys want to win so badly that they want to get greedy and they want another one and they know we're good enough to do it again. So we're going to give it our best shot. Yeah, I think you guys have an interest in mix too. Like usually you talk about people's windows kind of aligning, right? And you've got a lot of that. But you also have people within those windows that have, you know, to the point you made earlier, like they're at different places kind of in their career.

Like Clay is going to be hungry in a different way. right like you're you're coming back and that's just infusing more edge into your in your thing you got the kamingas and and the uh you know players like that they're just going to infuse a little bit more edge because of what they're trying to prove you know maybe personally within the the collective if that makes sense yeah yeah i did have a question and i know you've kind of alluded to not knowing that that was a championship team and stuff but like dude everybody comes into training camp and they're like all right goal is the win a championship we're going to do this and that and so i want to know a Like at what point last year did you guys like privately say, oh shit.

Like we're, yeah, we could have something here. This could be more than we think, more than we thought it was going into camp. Yeah, I think for me it was a Christmas Day game in Phoenix. We went in there and beat him and we were short-handed. I think we were missing Jordan Poole, maybe even Wiggins. I think both COVID-related. And we went in there and, you know, a marquee game against the team with the best. record and beat him on the road. There was just such a good vibe. That game felt like we all kind of

walked away going, you know what, we're good enough to do this. And we just got off to such a good start. We later on in the year, we ran into some tough times. I think we lost six in a row at one point in March. And so it wasn't always easy, but we got off to such a good start that we gave ourselves a lot of confidence and leeway early. And we felt like, okay, we got a shot. I remember talking to you, I think, during the All-Star break, or like the game right before the All-Star break, and it just seemed like everybody needed a rest because you guys went so hard in the beginning of the season, like, had the best record. And Steph was playing like an MVP, but he was carrying a lot of that load to start that season, what Clay out. How do you manage Steph this season? What is your, how do you, how do you go about that? Is it more of a balanced approach or it's kind of like wherever Steph takes you? No, I mean, we'd like to be more calculated in managing his minutes. Over the years, we've been deep enough to play them 32 minutes, most years. Then last year, that bumped up.

I think over 34 may not sound like much, but I think over the course of the season, I think it matters. And so with our depth, with the emergence of Jordan Poole, with Clay back all year, you know, with some of our young guys, hopefully taking that next step, we feel like, you know, hopefully we can manage Deft's minutes a little bit more in his games. have him really fresh and ready for the playoffs. You know, the other thing is, like, you always go in with the plan. And then, you know, the old line, you go and you go fight Mike Tyson, you got a plan, and then he hits you in the face.

And you got to have a new plan, right? Like last year, you know, we had, we had a plan. And then Dremont got hurt second half of the year. And we started, that led to our tailspin. Dremont, Dremont's presence is so crucial for us. He is, in many ways. our barometer. We know what Steph and Clay are going to do. You can watch them lighted up and Wigs and Jordan, but Draymond does all the stuff that maybe you don't recognize. And

then all of a sudden he's gone and you're losing and you're like, what's, you know, what's the problem? When Draymond went out, we started losing. It's no coincidence. So Draymond's health is really key for us this year. And we got to, we got to do a good job of, you know, helping him through the year and helping him be, you know, ready to go for the, for the playoffs and, you know, in as good, strong shape as possible. When I watch you guys play, Steve, right, just NBA in general, like a lot more freedom of movement, less like overall structure. I think people don't realize that you guys actually have a little bit more structure than

they think you have. But my question is when you're integrating young players that are getting increasingly younger or trying to integrate them into that system, like, do you find the more open, read-based stuff is easier for them to adapt to than maybe the old school like, hey, we're getting in the floppy. We're going to run our hawk. Do you think it's easier now or do you think it would have been easier if there was just more structure around them? Because you guys have a lot of read-based playing off a feel, like a lot of stuff like that. It's not that easy to teach that all the time. Right, right. Yeah, it's a good question. I think I remember when I was playing in Chicago,

you know, in the triangle, you had guys come in every year and some of them picked up the triangle like that and some of them couldn't figure it out. And even though we don't have an offense that's, you know, immediately identifiable like the triangle, it's the same concept applies. If a guy knows how to play basketball, if you understand spacing and cutting and movement, he's going to fit into our offense pretty well. But really, you know, what makes us unique is Steph's offball movement. You know, there aren't teams that have a point guard, you know, a high screen and roll point guard, who then gets off the ball and starts flying off screens like he's JJ Redick or Reggie Millick, right? So that's really unique.

Most guys in a high pick and roll around the league, they give up the ball and they stand. Well, Steph was a two guard growing up. And so between Steph's unique off ball ability and Draymond's unique kind of point center, point forward game, there's a lot of nuance that you kind of have to feel. And so some of the stuff we drill every day and some of it is just the guys who feel it. Like Juan to Descano Anderson was a great example. Like he just, Juan just knows how to play basketball. Right.

Fit in right away. He understood all the fake handbacks. Hey, Steve, can you say that one more time to this guy, Roger, real quick? Because Roger was on the outs on JTA in the beginning. And then we didn't. No, no, no, no. And then we got him on the pod. Then we got him on the pod.

And then Roger found out that JTA is like, come from his cloth and like fell in love with the beginning. He was like, it was like, oh, no, no. So just say that one more time. JTA do basketball. Juan's my guy. Juan was a fighter and he understands the game. He's got great feel.

And so, you know, Moses Moody is a guy who, like, you can, you watch him for five minutes and you go, okay, that guy's got great feel. And if you have feel, then you start to recognize all those Steph Curry patterns and you understand how to play off of Draymond Green. And, you know, that's why we've always been a team that's been pretty unique because Stefan Draymond are very unique. What was the biggest thing you learned, you know, the first iteration when you guys had young guys. I'm thinking the set, well, at least when I was around you guys, you guys, you know,

you had the Jay, Jordan Bells, the Pat McCaws, the Damien Jones. Those guys all show potential it just didn't work out because you guys were fighting for titles, right? and you guys had a veteran team, and it was hard to develop on the back end. What was the biggest lesson you learned during that time that you used to, you know, have the Jordan Bull success and the Moses Moody success last year and Caminga and those guys? What was the biggest lesson you learned from five years ago to, like, to now that you put into place with these new guys? I just think we've gotten better organizationally. You know, our between day, between game practices are much,

better organized. We added some coaches to our staff, Kenny Atkinson, JAMA Mahalala, guys who are really good with development. I think we developed a better, tighter relationship with Santa Cruz, with our G-League team.

And so our player development machine has really made dramatic improvements so that when guys aren't playing much in the games, they're still getting a lot better in the end between. That's where we've made a lot of strides. All right. Well, sounds good, man. Well, I guess the mantra for Golden State is time to get greedy.

So, you know, see how you. That plays out. I will oversee you in a couple of weeks to annoy the shit out of you per usual. I will see you at Media Day. And I will go from there, man. And we need to get Roger to California to a game. Or get Roger, when you go to Miami, let's get Roger to a Warriors game. I've been trying to get them to do it.

Okay. All right. I've been to one game. Yeah. I went to see Brooklyn play last year, Steve. He went to go see Steve, but he wouldn't come see. I'll come see Golden State play. I'll go see Goldos State play.

I'm not going to see too many teams play, man. You know, I'm like an old curmudgeon like that. We'll take care of you, Roger. We'll get you tickets. Bring your kids. Come on. Come on, let's go. You know what I need.

I need to call the University of Arizona football, Steve Kerr. That's what I need, Logan. Because we got to, oh, hey, off air. Off air. Off air. Oh, okay, okay, okay. All right. Cut that out.

We're getting it turned around. We're getting it turned around. Yes, sir. My man is doing. We'll cut that out. No, no, you keep this. I'll keep this in. Keep it in.

I've been overruled. There we go. I have a question for you, Steve. Are you guys in need of a quarterback from Florida? In the next four years? Are you guys in need of a four years down the border? Are you guys in a quarterback? If he's really good, yeah.

He's already in like the elite 11 system right now. Is his last name? Chill, bro. Chill, chill, chill, chill. He got a couple follows from University of Arizona the other day. He showed me on Twitter. He got that. And then also he took his visit

to Notre Dame recently. Chill, bro. Texas recently. Okay, my bad, you put it all on the internet. I'm sorry. All right, time for Roger to go pick up his kids.

That was another addition to real ones. We'll see you guys soon. Hollop.