Steve Kerr: Warriors not being in Orlando has been 'kind of painful'

Steve Kerr knows that the Warriors missing the Orlando bubble is giving the team a much-needed break. Regardless, he says that the Golden State players are having a tough time watching other teams compete while they are forced to sit at home and quarantine like the rest of us.

"Obviously we were having a really rough season. It's been a grind this year," Kerr said on the Bill Simmons Podcast. "So when the Orlando thing happened, I don't think a lot of us were that disappointed to not be invited — especially Steph (Curry), Draymond (Green), Klay (Thompson). The guys needed a rest. They just needed to get away. But now that it's going — I talked to Draymond about it — Draymond and I kind of both feel the same way, which is we kind of want to be there. We're missing out. These games look fun. The NBA is doing a great job. The games are competitive. The players look great."

Kerr is absolutely right that Warriors will benefit in the long term by avoiding Orlando. They were the worst team in the league this year thanks to missing Klay Thompson for the entire season and Steph Curry missing most of the year. But it's also understandable that the team would feel sad about not being able to participate in the Orlando bubble. After all, the Warriors have made the last five NBA Finals, and this will be the first time they won't be representing the Western Conference in the Finals since LeBron James was still on the Miami Heat.

Plus, the bubble has looked really fun so far, especially in comparison to having to sit at home and basically do nothing all day. For natural competitors like Curry or Green, it is probably brutal watching games while their season has been over since March. Kerr admits it's been a tough viewing experience despite, or perhaps because of, the high quality of basketball being played.

"To not be there actually is kind of painful," Kerr told Simmons.