Steve Kerr Becomes 1st NBA Coach to Start Career with 19-2 Record
The Golden State Warriors won a 14th consecutive game Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, making Steve Kerr the first head coach in NBA history to begin his career with a 19-2 record, per the team's official Twitter account.
He broke a tie at 18-2 with Al Cervi, who served as a player-coach for the 1949 Syracuse Nationals, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
Hired to replace current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson, the 49-year-old Kerr had previously been working as an analyst for TNT, the NBA's other major national broadcasting partner.
Kerr inherited a team that went 51-31 during the 2013-14 regular season before losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the opening round of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
While few first-time coaches have the benefit of inheriting such a talented roster, Kerr deserves his fair share of credit for Golden State's incredible run.
The Warriors are off to their best start in franchise history and are only the 16th team ever to begin a season 19-2, perย NBA.com.ย The ongoing 14-game winning streak is also a franchise record, eclipsing an 11-game streak from the 1971-72 season, per Basketball-Reference.com.
In addition to owning the NBA's best record, Golden State owns a dominant plus-11.2 point differential, while no other team is better than plus-8.0.
Per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Kerr's take on the historic start was rather understated, with the coach simply saying, "It means I'm the luckiest coach in NBA history because I inherited a really good team."
Not that Kerr is entirely incorrect, but there are plenty of NBA teams with similarly talented rostersโthe Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers come to mindโand only the Warriors boast a 19-2 record.
