OAKLAND — Steve Kerr has watched the last four Warriors playoff games from the locker room at the arena, while Mike Brown has coached the team from the sidelines.

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Matt Barnes finally gets 2017 Warriors championship ring on ESPN show Usually sitting right there watching the games on TV with Kerr — his son Nick, who has joined the team the last few playoffs (after the Cal season) and has been a large comfort for the Warriors coach once Kerr’s symptoms from a spinal-fluid leak suddenly got worse during the Portland series this season.

I started today hoping to talk to Nick — who Steve Kerr confirmed will be moving to a video role with the San Antonio Spurs after this season — about going through all this with his father and about the coaching profession.

Click here to read more from Tim Kawakami on his exclusive interview with Steve Kerr

As part of this, Steve Kerr agreed today to talk about what Nick has meant to him … and then he also agreed to discuss his own situation at length, just two days before Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Cleveland.

Kerr is clearly feeling better than he has since he left the team in late-April — he ran practice today and yesterday for the first time, and took Brown’s place for the coach’s media session yesterday when Brown had the flu.

But as Kerr explains, this is no easy decision, with time running out, and the Finals are not just another bunch of games; also, he’s still not close to 100 percent.

I think you can hear how much Kerr is tempted to try, though. You can feel how much he wants to coach these games, but he knows this is not something to rush.

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—STEVE KERR 1-on-1 interview transcript/

-Q: You look better, for sure, the last few days. Has there been a step forward the last few days?

-KERR: Yeah. Yeah. I’ve gotten a little better. Addressing the media yesterday, running practice the last

couple days, it’s been better.

So that’s good. We’ll see where it goes.

-Q: Is it an energy-level thing? Can you describe what it is you’re evaluating as you decide whether you can coach now?

-KERR: It’s a pain thing and the repercussions of pain. I’ve been dealing with it for almost two years. I’ve been able to deal with it for the most part.

It’s not a cognitive thing. It’s not even really an energy thing. It’s a pain thing. And the threshold is really important–what’s the threshold?

For whatever reason, I don’t know why, but a month ago, man, it got worse. You could see it, I’m sure, interviewing me.

-Q: For sure you could tell after Game 2 (of the Portland series).

-KERR: It was kind of those last couple of days. Like after Game 1, Game 2, for whatever reason, things just got worse.

I knew I couldn’t have coached if I’d tried the next few games.

That’s when I went and pursued some things and now I’m back and, you know, feeling a little better. What that means, I don’t know.

There’s a lot for me to assess in terms of my… whether I should jump out there.

We’re doing fine without me. Honestly I don’t think it’ll matter too much to the team. I think the team will be fine no matter what we do.

Because we’re going to do the same stuff. I’m there. I’ve been messaging and watching film and breaking down everything.

And I’ll do that before and after the game whether I’m coaching or not.

But it’s just a weird, weird situation.



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-Q: Is there any worry that coming back could mess it up a little bit?

-KERR: I don’t think it would. With our team I don’t think it would. Like I said, we’re doing the same stuff.

I think just, it’s the Finals, there’s going to be a spotlight, is it a distraction? Is it another storyline? Do we need to deal with all that?

I don’t know. Ultimately I don’t think I can worry about that. I’ve got to play it by ear–if I’m feeling good I should coach and if I’m not feeling up to it, then I shouldn’t. And it’s that simple.

-Q: Did you know Mike was going to be this good walking into it?

-KERR: Oh yeah. Yeah.

-Q: Just like that?

-KERR: He’s got so much head-coaching experience. And the best thing is this didn’t happen in the beginning of the year. It happened in the end.

In the beginning of the year he didn’t understand our team. He really didn’t. It was such a different vibe in here for him. ‘Why aren’t we calling more plays?’ (Laughs.)

I think about half-way through the year he came to me and just said, ‘Man, I get it.’ It’s this balance between fun and work and discipline and craziness and order and chaos. And we’re constantly trying to find that balance.

Because ultimately we’re better when we have a little hair on fire.

You know. You’ve seen our team now. It’s always a dance. And we want to walk the line.

So I think Mike over the course of the year has really figured that out and he’s done a great job with it–since the playoffs started–of calling plays at the right time, making substitutions at a really good time, what he’s saying to the team, what he’s not saying.

And he’s done a great job of navigating an awkward situation, where I’m still the head coach, but he’s got to do what he thinks is right. And I’m not out there with him.

I’m trying to do the right thing, just supporting him behind the scenes.

I mean, it’s as good a situation as we could have under the circumstances. But that’s all based on the quality of people we have on the staff–that’s what makes it work. It’s not just Mike, it’s JC, it’s Ron, it’s Q, CD, Nick, Willie.

What we have has already been established. We’re all in this together. Nobody’s going to be coming to you going, ‘Psst, Steve would’ve called this play. I don’t know what’s doing. Or vice-versa. That’s not happening here.’

-Q: You’ve talked about how you and Mike have a little bit different offensive philosophies and maybe you’re running more isolation or pick-and-roll with Durant these days. Is that no big deal–hey, you’re running more stuff with Durant?

-KERR: That’s not exactly like a huge change. I mean, Mike gave me the credit because that’s what Mike does.

But before the Utah series, it’s like, hey, Gobert’s at the rim, the guy’s a monster at the rim, he’s an unbelievable defender, it’s not rocket science, let’s put KD in a high screen with him and pull him out away from the rim and KD can either shoot jumpers or…

And I know that in general I’m more movement, off-ball stuff; most coaches are more on-ball stuff.

But playoffs, when you’re options are limited, I’m all on-board for picking a guy you want to pick on and put him in high-screen-and-roll.

We’ve had very few discussions about that. We’re on the same page on that stuff.

-Q: Nick (Kerr’s son) said there’s been no direct communication with Mike during games…

-KERR: No, none.

-Q: Is that difficult to resist–you ever felt like telling Nick to go run out to the bench and tell Mike something?

-KERR: No. No. There’s 10 or 15 decisions you make during the game, rotation decisions. Most of them are all pretty easy for us because we have generally been staying with what we do, maybe it’s an Ian or Patrick thing, or how long do we stay with JaVale.

There’s not really huge rotation decision-making.

But there could be in this series. This is a little different deal, the way Cleveland plays, so we’re going to have to be on point with that stuff.

But the vast majority of time I’m watching in there, I see something, I go, ‘Man, we should run this,’ and that’s what Mike runs. Or we should put somebody in, and he puts him in. We’re thinking alike, so it’s good.

-Q: You assigned yourself to go over all seven Finals games last year. Was that a pleasant experience or a little tough?

-KERR: Honestly, I would never trivialize it. It’s the NBA Finals and it’s the pinnacle of our profession. It’s what you do. And I absolutely agonized over certain parts of it.

But there’s a perspective you get in life when (bad) has happened, and (bad) has happened to me. So I’m just not in a position now… where I’m going to kill myself the rest of my career for making a decision in Game 5 or

Game 7 or calling this play or that play.

You beat yourself up a little bit, but you learn quickly. Hopefully even if you do have good health, you learn quickly. You just move on .

You always make decisions with the best interests in mind and they don’t always work, whether you’re a player or a coach, that’s the truth.

But you pick up on what you can pick up on, learn some things, what you can do better, and then you do ’em.

And that’s what we’re going to try to do this year–we think we can do some things better. So we’ll see.

-Q: I’ll ask you now: Can you say that you definitely will coach again at some point?

-KERR: Hell yeah.

You know, it’s a little trickier, since this has been going on. I sort of assumed all last year that by the summer I’d get this thing knocked out.

It’s been kind of a mystery and that’s what so frustrating. But I have every intention to coach for a long time. It’s scary stuff and still hoping for a better resolution to it.

-Q: No matter what happens in the Finals, will you be coaching the start of next regular season?

-KERR: That’s the plan. But what’s the date–it’s May 30. I can’t promise anything, neither can Bob (Myers). We have to figure everything out this summer.

It’s a very unique situation, a very difficult situation for me personally and for Bob and Joe. It’s probably unprecedented.

One thing I know is that we’ll all work together. They’re going to want to do what’s best for me, I’m going to want to do what’s best for them. We’ll figure out whatever that is

-Q: What’s it been like watching these games with Nick? Is there a sense you’re sharing this journey with him?

-KERR: Yeah. But we’ve been sharing this his whole life. He was on my shoulders when we celebrated the championship in ’96 at the age of 3 and a half. One of my favorite memories.

And ever since we’ve been watching games together on TV and watching tape together at home.

He’s obsessed just like I am.

-Q: When did you know he was coaching to be a coach?

-KERR: Probably when he was in high school. He just loved the game so much.

-Q: You were his coach then? (In summer leagues.)

-KERR: More in junior high. But when he was in high school–he was a really good high school player, but he knew his playing days were limited. So I knew at that point he wouldn’t want to have to go get a real job, he’d want to stay in the game.

-Q: Are you talking through the games with him strategically now?

-KERR: Yeah. He knows. And he’s been at pretty much every practice the last two postseasons–once the Cal season ended the last two years he just came down and rebounded and watched film with our staff. So he’s getting a pretty good education here.

-Q: While you’re going through this, what has it meant to have him here with you?

-KERR: That’s probably the most important thing, you know?

This has obviously been a pretty rough time in our family’s life, not just mine, but our whole family, just with what I’m dealing with.

And incredible to have the support of my wife and kids at home and then also have the support of Nick on the road. You know, he sits next to me on the plane, we hang out.

It’s comforting. Family is everything, especially when you’re going through a really rough time.

-Q: And he’s going to go to San Antonio… is that rough to let him go?

-KERR: It’s good for him to go out and do his own thing; pretty good opportunity to go work for the best in the business.

We’re going to miss him.