Steve Kerr Named 2015-16 NBA Coach of the Year: Latest Comments and Reaction
The NBA Coach of the Year Award race effectively ended a little over a month ago after the Golden State Warriors reeled off their 55th win in their first 60 games. On Tuesday, head coach Steve Kerr received his deserved recognition.
ESPN's Chris Forsberg provided the full voting results:
Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle provided a picture of Kerr with the trophy:
"This was the hardest year of my life," said Kerr, per ESPN.com's Ethan Sherwood Strauss.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers agreed with the assessment.
"I don't think everybody quite knows what you've had to go through this year," he said to his head coach, per Sherwood Strauss.
Myers also spoke about he and Kerr have formed a strong personal relationship, per the Bay Area News Group's Marcus Thompson: "A lot of people say we found a great coach. And we did. But I found a great friend."
The Warriors won 73 games in the regular season, besting the previous record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Of course, Kerr is in the unique position of having played for that Bulls team. He declined to say which of the record-setting campaigns he enjoyed more, per Sherwood Strauss:
According to NBA.com, Golden State ranked first in offensive rating (112.5) and tied for fourth in defensive rating (100.9). The Warriors also led the league in effective field-goal percentage (56.3) while holding opponents to the second-lowest percentage (47.9).
Only the San Antonio Spurs could approach that kind of balance on both ends of the floor, and the Warriors won three of the four head-to-head matchups between the two teams.
Kerr missed the first half of the season with back issues, and the Warriors didn't skip a beat with interim coach Luke Walton. This begs the question, are the Warriors so talented and cohesive that anyone could have coached them to a gaudy record?
Even Kerr acknowledged his relatively good fortune, telling reporters, "I am the luckiest coach around," per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
However, nobody should discount the Kerr has had on Golden State.
Power forward Draymond Green recounted when his head coach broke a clipboard in half after the team started slowly in what proved to be a 116-95 win over the New York Knicks on Jan. 31.
"He was dead serious," said Green, per the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps. "He broke the clipboard and then threw it. It was probably well-deserved. We were really bad ... he expects perfection, and we're never there."
Assistant coach Jarron Collins also praised Kerr for delegating in a way that maximizes his staff's opinions and expertise, per CBSSports.com's Ken Berger:
"The thing that Steve did to empower us as assistants was, he gave us a voice -- and he allowed us to use our voice. We're responsible for breaking down game tape, leading walkthroughs, leading video sessions. And what that does for us as young coaches, it gives us experience and gives us confidence. And so when the players hear us say something that's going to contribute to winning, they know it's coming from a place of wanting to get them better. I've been on teams where the head coach wants to lead the team through the walkthrough and he's the only one who speaks at practice. That's not the case with us.
[...]
If you have an idea and you're in our organization, he wants to hear about it and he's willing to listen. Steve values input from everybody. When you're in an environment like that, it makes for a very, very special environment and atmosphere to learn.
"
Kerr was quick to praise Walton's work on the sidelines, per The Vertical's Michael Lee:
For John Middlekauff of 95.7 The Game, this year's Coach of the Year voting was straightforward:
The honor has become something of a poisoned chalice of late. Among the previous nine winners, only Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer occupy the same jobs they did when they took home their awards:
| 2005-06 | Avery Johnson, DAL | 2008 |
| 2006-07 | Sam Mitchell, TOR | 2008 |
| 2007-08 | Byron Scott, NOH | 2009 |
| 2008-09 | Mike Brown, CLE | 2010, 2014 |
| 2009-10 | Scott Brooks, OKC | 2015 |
| 2010-11 | Tom Thibodeau, CHI | 2015 |
| 2011-12 | Gregg Popovich, SAS | N/A |
| 2012-13 | George Karl, DEN | 2013 |
| 2013-14 | Gregg Popovich, SAS | N/A |
| 2014-15 | Mike Budenholzer, ATL | N/A |
Should the same fate befall Kerr in the next few years, his departure will likely be voluntary rather than the result of a poor record or string of early playoff exits. There's little reason to expect the Warriors to start slowing down.
Shooting guard Klay Thompson is signed through the 2018-19 season, Green won't be a free agent until 2020, and the chances of point guard Stephen Curry leaving after next year are slim to none. Considering general manager Bob Myers' success unearthing talent in the NBA draft, Golden State shouldn't have trouble maintaining a deep squad as well.
Kerr's health is essentially the only potential roadblock in what could otherwise be a fruitful career on the Warriors' sideline. Following back surgery in the offseason, the 50-year-old missed the team's first 43 games this year. Walton led Golden State to a 39-4 start.
As much as Kerr will enjoy having won Coach of the Year, he likely won't be satisfied until the Warriors defend their NBA championship and complete one of the most historic seasons in league history.
