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Steve Kerr entered the 2018-19 season fully knowing this would be his toughest year as coach of the Golden State Warriors. Despite the analysts and pundits handing the defending champions the crown on July 2, when DeMarcus Cousins chose to sign with the team, Kerr knew it would take much more than rolling out an All-Star-laden lineup to achieve the coveted three-peat, one he's experienced from his days with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
“When you go through the difficulty, it makes things that much sweeter in the end,” said Kerr, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. “And so it's not just the idea of getting a ring, hanging a banner. It's the memory of all that went into it. You put a lot of effort in to achieve that. And it's a lot more than a ring or a banner signifies. It's what you know you had to endure.”
Since starting out the season a crisp 10-1, the Warriors have endured a locker room fight between teammates, a handful of 20-plus-point losses at home and now a feeble 4-5 record since the All-Star break, capped by a home loss to the bottom-dwelling Phoenix Suns.
Yet Kerr has managed these up-and-downs with sheer grace since the signing of Kevin Durant in 2016 hailed the once-fallen Warriors as the basketball nirvana of the NBA.
From unforeseen losing skids to the constant cloud of Durant's impending free agency, Kerr has managed to get his guys to play the right way when it counts the most, and he has three championships to prove it in his short tenure as coach of the team.
The more obstacles, the more rewarding a task it has become for Kerr — who now awaits the toughest of challenges — motivating a team that has seen it all, yet still has a large expectation to wind up a winner for the third straight year.
