The Golden State Warriors may have breezed past the Portland Trail Blazers in their first round playoff series, but they are playing with a heavy heart, knowing that their head coach is not with them and still continuing to recover from his illness.

Their starting power forward, Draymond Green, recently admitted, via Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area, that the Dubs are preparing for the worst as they are not expecting Steve Kerr back in this postseason. He also added that for now, Mike Brown is their head coach and will work with him like how they did with Kerr.

“The way we look at it is, plan on him not coming back. That’s the way we’re approaching this thing.”

“We’re not going to sit here and say if we can get to the Conference Finals, Steve may be back for the Conference Finals or if we get to the Finals. Mike Brown is our coach, we have the rest of our staff and that’s what we’re rolling with.”

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Stephen Curry echoed his statement and said that Brown will continue to be their head coach until they are informed that Kerr is returning. He also revealed that the coaching staff is always in touch with him to ask for inputs.

“The expectation is, until we hear otherwise, Coach Brown will continue to run the show, with Coach Kerr being on speed-dial every single minute he can to give his input.”

Kerr's absence may be seen as a loss for the Warriors, but it can inspire them to play better, and also for Kerr, to lift his spirits and have a faster recovery. Although his real condition is still unclear, it is a good sign that he can be called any time to give his thoughts about the team's preparations.