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00:00I'm Steve Kerr is here out to the River Islands guest line we go.
00:04Kerr is presented by Great Clips in sports.
00:06Success is about team effort and the same is true for your hair.
00:09Great Clips, it's going to be great.
00:12Here it is, Coach Kerr live in San Antonio.
00:14Hey coach, what's going on?
00:18I'm good, how are you guys doing?
00:19We're doing good.
00:20Hey, before we dive into all the things that we want to discuss,
00:24we want to say thank you again for the way you kind of helped us build up
00:29what we were doing with our Special Warriors Summit last week
00:32and your answer about Stiney's question ended up with a full-blown crowd-chanting
00:40Stiney's name at the end of that whole thing.
00:43Yes, which the rest of us hated that, but he loved it, and so thank you, Steve.
00:50Well, I'm sorry for you guys, but yeah, you're welcome, Stiney.
00:54Yeah.
00:55And also, hey coach, thanks for the win last night.
00:59Like, I've got to think that after everything that's gone on lately
01:02and with the start of the week in Oklahoma City,
01:05give us a sense of what last night did for you guys.
01:11Well, we just got back to kind of who we are, you know, with an identity.
01:17The way we have played for many years, we strayed from that a little bit,
01:21and sometimes that happens during the season, and, you know,
01:26I think we lost a little confidence along the way,
01:28and so it was a very important game.
01:31I mean, I don't think it was like this all-out crisis or anything,
01:34but it was an important game to get us back on track,
01:38remind ourselves, you know, how we have to play, who we have to be,
01:42and we got a good win, good road win against one of the best young teams in the league.
01:46Just one more about OKC, Steve, because I don't know if I've ever seen a team
01:50get a delay game coming out of the locker room at halftime.
01:54Did you lose track of time, or was it more of a heavy-duty, like, team meeting that was going on?
02:01We had all five guys on the floor, so I was – I didn't understand why it was called,
02:09and the ref told me that it was because one of our players on the bench took a couple of extra shots
02:16while, you know, the half was about to start.
02:20So it was a really bizarre – I've never seen that before.
02:24The guys who were on the floor were all ready to play,
02:26so usually that's all you need to do to avoid that penalty,
02:31but they got us for, yeah, I guess an extra shot or two, you know, in the warm-up.
02:37It was Buddy, right?
02:38I mean, because Buddy loves to come out during timeouts and get the ball.
02:41It was Buddy, right, Steve?
02:44I'm not saying – I'm not saying one word.
02:47Okay.
02:47I'm not saying one word about who it was.
02:50I love it.
02:51Yeah.
02:51That would not be – no, that wouldn't be fair to Buddy if I said his name out.
02:57Sure.
02:58It would not be, yeah.
03:00We would never want you to be unfair to Buddy because we all love Buddy,
03:03but, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and take that as a win.
03:06Thanks, Steve.
03:07Oh, jeez.
03:08Hey, listen, I will take it with Buddy.
03:12Buddy puts up more shots than every single one of our guys, including Steph, by the way.
03:18We monitor this stuff with the technology we have in our training center at Chase,
03:24and so every shot that every player takes is recorded, tracked.
03:29We know how many they made.
03:31We know the misses, where they missed.
03:33We know the arc.
03:35You'd be amazed at the information we have.
03:37And all Buddy does is shoot.
03:39You can see sometimes during the games he holds a ball when he's on the bench
03:44because he just loves the feel of the ball.
03:47And so, yeah, he loves to shoot, so I can't blame him.
03:52I don't mind getting attacked because he just wants to get a couple extra shots.
03:56I love it.
03:56Yeah, these refs need to get back to youth sports where the brothers and sisters of the players go out there
04:02and shoot way too long at halftime every game.
04:06That's the rules.
04:08You've got to be out there.
04:10That's right.
04:10That's right.
04:11You've got to – whoever's allowed to be out there should just be allowed to shoot
04:14until the whistle actually blows.
04:16Hey, Coach, while we're on this and we're talking with Steve Curry here on Willard and Dibs,
04:21on a more actual X's and O's basketball note, what is going on with Buddy Heald?
04:26Because it does feel like he's a little bit out of sync right now.
04:32Nothing.
04:33Nothing.
04:34I'm sure we had the same conversation last year at some point in the season.
04:38So, he is a shooter, you know, but unafraid he's going to shoot every time he's open.
04:48And it's no different from baseball.
04:50A guy goes hitless for three or four games in a row.
04:53Everyone says, well, he's kind of in a slump, and then he hits one hard and everything changes.
04:58That's it.
04:59You know, Buddy's playing so hard defensively, pressuring the ball up and down the floor.
05:04He's doing fine.
05:06The shots will go.
05:07We know that.
05:07But, Steve, I wonder if you would take the fans through the entire thought process on lineup and rotation changes.
05:17We saw, obviously, the starting lineup with Moody and Will Richard getting in there.
05:21But what is the current thought process on that grouping, and what did you see last night once it went out there?
05:30Yeah, well, we clearly hadn't been right the previous, whatever, three, four, five games.
05:37We were out of sync.
05:39And so the lineup was built with the idea of finding our rhythm, getting back in sync, you know, getting back to our identity.
05:49So, you know, I've always felt Steph and Draymond need passing and cutting around them, and Jimmy needs shooting around him.
06:00And, you know, at the end of last year, we found a really good groove with Moses and BP, and, you know, we went 23-8 with that group, I think.
06:09And, you know, I obviously found a really good groove.
06:12But Moses missed, you know, the main two weeks of training camp.
06:17And so we got away from that.
06:19And because J.K. was playing really well early on and we were winning games, you know, you guys asked me then, I said, this is our starting lineup going forward.
06:30And going forward does not mean forever.
06:33It just means going forward.
06:34And I would say the same thing now, watching Will cut and distribute and create the space that Steph needs and Jimmy needs with his shooting and his movement and then watching Moses guard the ball so well.
06:49And, you know, he's in a great group shooting the ball.
06:52I'm going forward with this group.
06:54And we'll see how long it lasts.
06:56But I like what I saw last night.
06:58And J.K., unable to play in the second half last night, and I assume it's because of the bilateral knee tendinitis.
07:04How is he doing?
07:05And what do you think the prognosis is, to use your words, going forward?
07:11Yeah, he's been sore the last couple of days.
07:14You know, he was a question mark for last night.
07:16And he wanted to play.
07:19He felt good enough in warm-ups that he thought he could go.
07:22And then by the time halftime came, he was in some pain.
07:25And so he and Rick met, and Rick came and told me that he would be out for the second half.
07:31So I would say he's doubtful for tomorrow just based on, you know, he was – if he got hurt, you know, before last night and Plang aggravated it,
07:43it doesn't mean that – it doesn't make much sense to send him back out tomorrow.
07:47But I will say he's doubtful because I don't have the official word yet from Rick.
07:53And he and the performance staff and J.K. will get together tomorrow, and we'll figure out his status from there.
08:00By the way, Steve, just while we're on that, you mentioned that he and Rick Celebrini met.
08:05I'd love to know, just in a more general sense, how much say a player has in stuff like that.
08:12Like, when something sort of changes on the outlook, does it usually come from the player or the team?
08:20It's both. It's a collaboration.
08:22You know, the players give the performance team – every single day they give them information on how they're feeling health-wise,
08:29with any, you know, bumps and bruises that they have.
08:32They're getting treatment all the time for anything that's bothering them.
08:36So it's always a collaboration.
08:37And even Draymond last night, you know, we were planning to give him the night off
08:43because he hadn't had a night off all year.
08:46But he only played 20 minutes against OKC, and he came to me and Rick on the plane and said,
08:52hey, I really want to go tomorrow.
08:54I didn't even play enough to, you know, to really feel tired, and we need this one tomorrow.
09:00And, you know, I always leave it in Rick's hands because I trust him with all this stuff.
09:06And Rick gave him the OKC.
09:08He said – and then, you know, when Dray was back in his seat, Rick said to me, you know,
09:13we have to protect him from himself, but this one makes sense.
09:18Like, you have to have feel with this stuff, too.
09:20You can't just, you know, predetermine everything.
09:23And Rick made the right call because we really needed the win.
09:27We needed to rediscover our team, and Draymond is obviously such a huge part of that.
09:31His defense on Wembenyama was amazing last night.
09:34To that end, is the plan for Draymond to play again tomorrow night?
09:39Yeah.
09:40Yeah, he'll be out there tomorrow night.
09:42I think there's a really good chance that the back-to-back next week in Orlando, Miami,
09:48that, you know, you'll see some guys miss, you know, one of those two games.
09:54We just have to protect these guys.
09:57You know, obviously our big three, you know, Jimmy, Steph, Draymond, and then Al, you know,
10:04at 39, we've already announced, you know, he's not going to play any back-to-backs.
10:08So, you know, it's really hard to do during the season.
10:12You know, you either lose a couple games and feel like, man, you know, we have to have these guys,
10:19or you win a couple and you think, well, we've got to get them some rest.
10:23And before you know it, you know, the season is in full swing, and so we have to be proactive
10:31in making sure we get these guys enough rest.
10:34Sometimes Mother Nature takes care of it, like last week with Steph.
10:37You know, he got three games off in a way that we didn't intend and that we didn't want,
10:42but in the long run, those three games off will help him, actually.
10:46And he comes back Wednesday, and he clearly wasn't quite himself yet,
10:49and then in the postgame, Draymond had those comments about, you know,
10:53the team maybe not having the same commitment to winning.
10:56Is that something that you were kind of sensing in the locker room,
10:59and he just kind of spoke it into existence?
11:01Is that something that you have been feeling as well?
11:06Well, it's just the way Draymond put it, and I know exactly what he was saying.
11:11I just wouldn't put it that way because I don't think there's any individual player
11:16who is, you know, not committed to winning.
11:19I think what happens is we get misguided.
11:23We don't realize, you know, some of the things we're doing are not conducive to winning.
11:29Sometimes guys try too hard, and so trying too hard can be, you know,
11:34not committed to winning also.
11:36So it's never a conscious decision.
11:38It's just, you know, the margin for error between winning and losing in the NBA is so small
11:44that, you know, you lose a couple games and you get slightly out of sync,
11:49ball's not moving quite fast enough, or you turn it over too many times,
11:53or you're not rebounding, and all of a sudden, you know, you get blown out.
11:57It looks like you have no energy because you're dejected.
11:59And that's what Draymond was talking about.
12:02And it feels like a lack of commitment to winning, I guess, but it's really more just,
12:08hey, man, this is the greatest league in the world, and we're out of sync,
12:12and we've got to refocus our efforts and what we're trying to accomplish.
12:16So, Steve, what happens for you when something like that goes down?
12:19Like, I almost wonder if there's a little buzzer in your pocket or something like that.
12:23Like, when Draymond has a press conference and says something that you know is going to gather
12:29the interest of your fan base, and maybe you knew he was going to say something,
12:35or maybe it was off the cuff and you didn't.
12:36I sort of wonder, is that coming just organically,
12:41and sort of what happens for you when comments like that are made in the moment?
12:46Well, if I haven't heard it already, then Raymond Ritter will send it to me.
12:53That's the first thing that happens.
12:55Okay.
12:55I'll see you on my phone.
12:57The main thing is, you know, Draymond and I have been together,
13:01and Steph, obviously, this is our 12th year.
13:04Draymond is our emotional and spiritual leader,
13:07and when he says stuff like that, it's good for us.
13:11And people, you know, are going to make, you know, a big deal out of it,
13:16and maybe it turns into national media.
13:18And obviously, we don't love that part, but that's just part of the deal.
13:23But Draymond always has his finger on the pulse of what's going on with the team.
13:27He can be dramatic in the way he expresses it, like he was the other night,
13:31but it's good for us.
13:32He needed to put our team on edge.
13:35And so it wasn't just a few comments to the media.
13:38You know, we met yesterday and talked as a team and watched film,
13:41and, you know, Draymond has addressed the group a couple of times
13:45over the last week.
13:47So we're already on this, and, you know, Draymond is on it.
13:51And if he says it to the media, there's method to his madness.
13:55He knows the rest of the guys are going to see it, and he wants them to see it.
13:59I think people will love hearing that you think it's good for the team,
14:02because I know a lot of people were wondering,
14:04how did that play in the locker room?
14:07And, Steve, let's not run from this.
14:09I know you all heard it.
14:10Everyone tries to translate it, and based on the exact comments that were made
14:15and who these players are in your system, there was a lot of talk about,
14:19well, the front of the line of what he's talking about is Jonathan Kaminga
14:23and Brandon Pajemski, because they've been the ones who have wanted more
14:27and said that publicly.
14:29What's your response to that thought from fans?
14:32Well, I don't know that it actually matters.
14:39You know, we obviously care about our fans,
14:42and we understand the intense interest in our team.
14:46But we don't really, I mean, I don't pay much attention, you know,
14:51to what our fans are thinking if there's, you know, fingers being pointed.
14:56Everything that we do is internal.
14:58And so when we have these discussions about, you know, what our commitment is
15:03and what we're trying to do, it's not about, you know, pointing out individuals.
15:08It's about watching tape.
15:10It may be showing individuals what it needs to happen, you know,
15:15and there's plenty of that.
15:17And there's some of that that's done privately with players.
15:20There's some of that that's shown in front of the whole team in case, you know,
15:23you feel like the whole team needs to hear that, you know,
15:28we are on this with this particular player.
15:30But this is what coaching is, and this is what being a team is.
15:34You handle everything internally.
15:37All the speculation, everything that goes on outside is,
15:42I always remind our players, it's what pays the bills.
15:45You know, if we didn't have this interest, intense emotion from our fans,
15:50then, you know, we would not, we would be making the livings we're making.
15:54So this is part of it, and you can't worry about it.
15:57You've got to embrace that this is part of the deal when you take on this job.
16:01I'm glad you said that because it actually pays our bills, Steve.
16:04And I'm looking at Mark, and Mark and I are actually literally paying our bills right now.
16:08I just paid my PG&E bill as you were giving that answer.
16:11Same.
16:12Yeah.
16:12And thank you.
16:13Thank you for that.
16:14It's a speculation sensation, as you know, Steve.
16:16I just want to ask about Pods because whether or not he was targeted by the Draymond comments,
16:22that's for us to deal with, and boy, have we.
16:24But last night, what did you see from Pods, 29 minutes,
16:28that made you kind of feel good about his bounce-back effort?
16:33He was brilliant last night.
16:35The number of plays he made at both ends, the ball movement.
16:38That was the number one issue for us going into the game is we have to have ball movement.
16:43If Steph Curry is going to be Steph Curry, the ball has to move.
16:47And it wasn't moving the previous couple games.
16:50We had one possession in Oklahoma City where, you know, one guy took 22 dribbles and then a shot.
16:58I've never seen that in 12 years.
17:00And it wasn't because of that one player.
17:02It was because nobody was open.
17:03Nobody was moving.
17:05The defense kept switching.
17:06And we just were completely out of sync.
17:09And so the whole focus going into the game last night was remember who we are, remember how this team wins.
17:18We play through Steph and Jimmy, and, you know, Dray anchors the defense,
17:23and everybody has to star in their roles, and you have to understand what your role is.
17:27And so every player knows that, but you have to repeat these themes as a staff and as a team quite a bit during the season
17:37to keep everything on track.
17:39And I just felt like the ball movement was so much better,
17:43and I thought Brandon really fed into that right away when he got into the game.
17:48It's one of the reasons I started Chris, I mean, Will Richard, because Will is a great ball mover.
17:55It's one of the reasons Gary was out there.
17:58Gary might be our best ball reversal guy.
18:00In other words, as soon as the ball touches his hand, it doesn't stop.
18:04And when it swings, that allows for the next action, which usually leads to Steph getting an open shot,
18:10and that's how we build our team.
18:12As soon as the ball stops, we're not very good, and that was the message going in.
18:15And I thought the whole team did a great job of moving the ball last night.
18:19Steve Kerr with us here on Willard and Dibs, as he is every single week.
18:22I know you want the ball to move, but it might be nice that you as a group have finally stopped.
18:28We were mindful of the idea that, yes, you're on the road,
18:31but today might be the exact kind of day you all needed, right?
18:35Because nobody had to run to a plane last night.
18:38What did you do with your day, and what does this day mean to your team?
18:45Yeah, I mean, we needed this.
18:48I mean, the schedule has been crazy, and, you know,
18:51we've been kind of pointing to the end of this road trip when we get back from Miami
18:56as a chance to finally breathe, you know, with the number of games.
19:01I think it will be, what, 17 games in that span, and a lot of cities.
19:07So it's been quite a bit to handle.
19:11You know, today was a good day.
19:12Everyone had the day off.
19:13I think Steph played golf, you know, I went and worked out
19:15and stopped by the pool a little bit, saw some of the guys down there.
19:20So everybody got a chance to get away, not get on an airplane,
19:24and we definitely needed this.
19:27And so, yeah, hopefully we're nice and rested,
19:31and tomorrow we know will be quite a battle because these guys are really good,
19:35and obviously, you know, they've got a day to stew on, you know,
19:39the loss from last night, and they'll be well prepared for us tomorrow.
19:42And it feels like most of these stay-in plays, as I call them,
19:46turned out to be splits anyway, so they'll be extra motivated.
19:49Just being in San Antonio, Steve, I wonder if you had a chance to see Greg Popovich,
19:54if he's still there, because that kind of is the town that Pop built.
19:57I've not seen Pop on the trip.
20:02I'm going to go see Sean Elliott, who is my college teammate
20:05and then teammate with the Spurs as well, a great friend.
20:09Bruce Frazier and I are going to go see him.
20:12We were all three teammates at Arizona together.
20:15So we'll go have dinner with him tonight,
20:17and then I'm going to try to see Pop tomorrow.
20:20And it's always fun for me to come back here.
20:24You know, my family and I spent five years here.
20:27I played four seasons with the Spurs,
20:29and then we lived here for another year after I retired.
20:33And we've got a lot of friends here, and I love coming back here.
20:37Love it. Love it.
20:38Steve, and also, I think emblematic of who he is,
20:43here we are having this entire conversation with you,
20:45and we've barely even brought up the performance that Steph had last night.
20:50And I wonder about this perspective, because it's like not surprising to us,
20:56but he looked like he was still trying to find that thing,
21:00whatever that thing is that puts someone in the zone.
21:03Right? He looked like that in the first half.
21:05He looked kind of stoic on the bench for a minute,
21:08like he was trying to access something mentally.
21:11Can you take us through what that's like for him?
21:13Do you talk to him at all?
21:15What happens?
21:19Well, yeah, I mean, especially coming off of an absence,
21:24an illness where, you know, he obviously hasn't been training
21:30because he's been sick.
21:32So that's a tough thing to come back from.
21:34And I had a feeling the OKC game would go about as it did, you know,
21:39just get back, get your feet back in the water
21:42and, you know, get a sense for where you are.
21:46And then, you know, it still felt that way in the first quarter of last night.
21:51And that's what you're referring to.
21:52He was trying to find it.
21:54And it's one of my favorite things about Steph,
21:57because a lot of people would really get nervous as they're trying to find it
22:01and maybe hold back and maybe try not to do too much and overthink everything.
22:07And Steph just has a way of finding his rhythm in a confident way that doesn't hurt the team.
22:17You know, he might take a bad shot,
22:19but, like, we all know every shot Steph takes is actually a good shot
22:23because he's got a great chance of going in.
22:26But he has a really great way of, you know,
22:28finding his own game within the context of the group.
22:33And I thought that's what he did last night.
22:36The other thing I want to mention, you know,
22:37not only had we not talked about Steph,
22:39but we haven't mentioned Jimmy Butler either.
22:41And I guess, you know, that's the reason these guys are who they are, right?
22:45You just, like, their greatness is just on display night after night.
22:50Jimmy was so good last night.
22:52And to me, like, that's what it has to look like, you know,
22:56for us pretty consistently.
22:57You know, not in terms of that caliber of performance from both Steph and Jimmy,
23:03but the idea, and Jimmy even references last night,
23:07the idea that we played through them the entire game.
23:10Like, that's our team.
23:11And that's what makes every great team great.
23:15The Nuggets are going to play through Murray and Jokic.
23:18You know, the OKC is going to play through, you know,
23:21Shea and Jalen Williams.
23:22And, you know, all the great teams,
23:24they kind of know who they're playing through.
23:26And then everybody has to kind of play a great role to enhance the stars.
23:31And that's what I saw last night.
23:34And that's why I'm encouraged.
23:35And that's what has to continue.
23:37Yeah, absolutely.
23:38A brilliant performance in the second half.
23:40All right, Steve, we saved the most important question for the end.
23:45How did the fantasy team do last week?
23:50Finally got off the schneid, guys.
23:52Yeah, we got a big deal.
23:54Yeah.
23:54All right, so four and six now.
23:56I handled my boy Sloby.
24:01His team was not at their best, to be fair.
24:04But, you know, my guys heard the motivational speech.
24:08And they brought it, and I'm really proud of them.
24:10Well, I want to mention to you also that when you kind of held my feet to the fire
24:15about accountability, because I was blaming my players.
24:19And then we talked about it at 0-9.
24:22Steve, I'm now 1-9, and my team scored 200 points last week almost.
24:27So did you just show them more empathy?
24:33What was your go-to?
24:34How'd you get that out of you?
24:35No, I just went into the Internet, and I said,
24:38Look, I think I've been putting some bad juju out there.
24:41I've been putting it on you.
24:44I'm going to put it on me.
24:46It's up to me to make the right clicks.
24:48I'm going to click on the right things,
24:50and I'm going to put you guys in your best position to succeed.
24:53And they did.
24:55You know, I believe in karma.
24:57I believe that, you know, the accountability that you showed in that moment,
25:02it just clicked.
25:04That's what made it work.
25:06And that's a great lesson for you.
25:09Received, Steve, and thank you very much.
25:14All right.
25:14Congrats on your first win of the year.
25:17Thank you so much.
25:18Continued success for you as well.
25:20Steve, have a good rest of the trip.
25:22Gary and San Antonio, thank you as always.
25:26Right on.
25:27All right.
25:27Thanks all.
25:28See you later.
25:28There it is.
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