Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr underwent back surgery this offseason, prompting an interesting conversation with Bay Area sportswriter Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.
In discussing Kerr’s injury, Kawakami suggested the newly minted NBA champion coach could use a big chair like Phil Jackson did in his final years as a coach.
After reassuring Kawakami that his back is “fine,” Kerr’s response was classic.
“You mean the throne? I always thought it was because he won so many championships he got the big chair like that.”
Kawakami reminded Kerr that he just won a championship, but the head coach doesn’t think he’s earned the right to sit in a throne quite yet.
“Yeah, but one’s not enough to sit in a throne. Probably need to be part of few more.”
Like Kerr, Jackson was dealing with back issues, and his way of dealing with it during games was to utilize a tall chair.
Perhaps Kerr’s current obsession with calling said chair a “throne” could stem from the fact that he recently spent his summer months catching up on HBO’s popular series “Game of Thrones” during his recovery from surgery to repair a ruptured disc.
Whether or not he needs a special ergonomic chair this season, we’d love to see Kerr sitting in a throne to start the 2015-16 season, if only just once. What he did to transform the attitude and culture for Golden State was remarkable in his rookie campaign. Under his leadership the Warriors have a legitimate chance to win more than a few NBA titles.
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