Warriors coach Steve Kerr suffered a spinal fluid leak during his July 28th back surgery on a ruptured disk, which has led to his absence from the team during the preseason. Dr. Neel Anand, the director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles, believes that Kerr is likely to make a full recovery, though the exact timetable still remains unclear, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle relays. When discussing Kerr’s prognosis, Anand said, “The body forms spinal fluid constantly. As long as it doesn’t continue to leak, he’ll make a full recovery and be back to normal. It’s like 99.9% that he’ll probably make a full recovery.” That’s certainly encouraging news for Kerr and the Warriors, and now here’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Warriors team consultant Jerry West, in an interview with Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com, noted that one reason Mark Jackson, who was Kerr’s predecessor as Golden State coach, was let go after the 2013/14 campaign was his inability to adapt the offense to better suit the team’s personnel. “Coaches who have been players in the league, they get so attuned to playing how they were successful, and who their coaches were,” said West. “Mark was a real pick-and-roll guy and very, very good at it. Steve played for two championship coaches, and I think the coach obviously he has replicated is [Gregg] Popovich. He liked his style of play, even if he had great success in Chicago. Moving the ball, moving your body, all the little things you do to get defenses to make mistakes and to try to be able to counter. I think that’s been his philosophy offensively.“
- While Ronnie Price may have been signed with designs on him being a mentor to the Suns‘ young backcourt duo of Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe, Price has found them to be more talented and prepared than he anticipated, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “They don’t need to learn anything from me,” Price said. “I’m just here to be a brother and a teammate and to help them get through the season with a clear mindset. These guys are gifted. You don’t often have a chance to compete against two All-Star caliber point guards in practice. It’s been a joy. I have a newfound respect for Bled and B-Knight. You don’t have a chance to know how talented people are until you play against them every day. I respect their games even more. I’m just happy they’re on my team.”