Prior to a second and final meeting against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, head coach Steve Kerr sung some praise on fellow colleague Brad Stevens, lauding not only his coaching style but his character.
“I swear more than he does,” Kerr joked, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. “But we have similar styles in terms of the relationships with the players and empowering people and playing a lot of people.”
Kerr and Stevens have plenty in common, the main thing — they're both relatively young coaches with a fresh take on the NBA game — one that has paid major dividends for their teams, who lead their respective conferences.
“He’s a guy I always appreciated and picked his brain,” Stevens said. “He’s been a very good resource for me.”
“I really appreciate him saying that. There’s nobody I can respect more. He’s an incredible person and coach. I couldn’t be happier for his success. He’s clearly got a fun thing going. The environment that he creates and that team he creates together is really enjoyable.”
Both Kerr and Stevens have taken a franchise point guard under their wing and extracted the very best of them.
Stevens made Isaiah Thomas not only into a starter, but later into an All-Star player, and has done the most to shape Kyrie Irving into the leader he hoped to be when requesting a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kerr has put his imprint into Stephen Curry, giving him the ultimate green light, which has resulted in two MVP awards and two championships in his three-plus seasons with the team.
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