OAKLAND — No need for Warriors coach Steve Kerr just to stick to sports. He talks almost every day about the state of the Warriors, their quest to win their fourth NBA title in five years and everything pertaining to Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.

So no need to travel down that familiar road. Instead, Kerr sat down with us to talk about his reading habits, the good and the bad with social media, what he thinks of today’s political discourse and more. And sure, Kerr talked a little bit about basketball, too.

What book are you reading these days?

Kerr: “I just picked up a book by David Epstein. I haven’t started it yet. I just finished Tom Verducci’s book on the Cubs. That was great. A friend of mine recommend the Epstein book [Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World]. It’s about being in a world of specialization and how important it is to be multiskilled. Bill Simmons just did a podcast on it so I’m anxious to read it. I heard from multiple people it’s really good. I think it’s a book about social commentary, which I like. I like reading Malcolm Gladwell’s stuff. So I think it’s something like that. But I don’t know. I’m just starting it.”

Why does social commentary resonate with you?



Kerr: “I think just it’s really interesting how people live, how people succeed and how society evolves and changes. Coaching changes. Being an athlete has changed. Everything is constantly moving. Maybe for the better and maybe for the worse. It’s fun to read why. Gladwell is one of my favorite authors because he explains what is the why. “The Tipping Point” is one of those books. I love that book. Why do things happen the way they do? He’s really interesting. So I’m anxious to read the Epstein book.”

Did Gladwell speak to the team last season?

Kerr: “Michael Lewis spoke to the team. Oh, Gladwell came to our game in Atlanta. But Michael Lewis spoke to our team last year and came to our facility. He spoke to the group about his creative process. He writes a book. It’s really interesting.”



What did you take from what he shared?



Kerr: “No matter what you do, you develop habits and you have to be disciplined. You have to have a plan and you have to execute your plan. You have to know how to work with people. It’s fun to hear how other people go about their business and how they accomplish what they accomplish. Really in my mind, no matter what you talk about, it’s all the same. It’s hard work, having a vision and knowing how to work with others. No matter what you’re doing. If it’s running a business or running a basketball team, it’s still collaboration, humility, confidence and communication. All of those things matter. Obviously, you have to have talent. You can’t write a good book unless you’re a good writer. You can’t play in the NBA unless you’re a good basketball player. So you have to know what you’re doing. You have to have talent and a sense of what you’re doing and why. If you have all of that, the building blocks are the same as any.”

What are your favorite books of his considering he has written about sports and other things with news, society and trends?

Kerr: “‘Moneyball‘ was great. I liked the one about the financial crisis [“The Big Short”] He has a really interesting way of telling a story. It’s very entertaining and informative. That’s what the best writers do, in my mind. The best books, you’re learning. But the style of writing captures your attention, imagination and the picture. He’s a really talented writer. I like that style of writing and I like that genre. It’s nonfiction. But it’s weaved into great storytelling. Lewis and Gladwell really stood out for me.”

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On that, to your point about social technology, do you think that’s mostly for better or for worse in terms of the state of our world?



Kerr: “It’s worse for politics and it’s worse for being in the public eye and it’s worse for being an athlete. There’s so much judgment. People for whatever reason are unafraid to hide behind their keyboard and write things they would never say to another human being. The level of vitriol is really harmful to society. You’re seeing it in politics to the point now where it’s crossed the line and people aren’t afraid to say it. It started with writing something from the comfort of your alias on your Twitter account. It’s really ugly. There’s a lack of decency that is really damaging our country, I think.

Human beings always have bad, negative feelings toward each other. That is the way it is. Those feelings, in my mind anyway, usually went unexpressed. They were thoughts. Now those thoughts are expressed in a public platform. So the divide we have in our country right now is so dramatic politically. I think a lot of it has to do with social media.”

You obviously follow the news and have your beliefs. Especially at this time of year during the playoffs, to what degree do you try to stay on top of everything?



Kerr: “I read the news. I follow certain sites on Twitter and read certain articles and certain authors. Even on game days, I’ll read the stories on Twitter and certain sites. There’s a site called the “The Week” that I like. It has interesting political commentary. So I’m always reading stuff because it interests me.”

And you also like things with sports, such as the Steph imitation. What did you think of it?

Oh yea, we run that play a lot. We call it 'fist side.' https://t.co/Qa22rlVxtB — Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) May 21, 2019

Kerr: “It was hilarious (laughs). I love all of that stuff. A couple of years ago, we had Brandon Armstrong come to training camp. He’s the one that started this whole craze of imitating NBA players. He came in and actually visited us during camp. He impersonated our players in front of our players. Guys were howling with laughter. He did an impersonation of me, too, smashing a clipboard. That’s the thing. There’s a lot of great stuff on social media. People are funny. People are so creative. But people have crossed the line now. It’s starting with the President. It’s to the point now it’s Orwellian stuff like doctoring the video of [Nancy] Pelosi. People doctored the video. I remembered they doctored a video, they meaning who-knows-who, but there was a scene of the Seahawks celebrating in their locker and somebody doctored a burning American flag. Then there were millions of hits on it.

Misinformation, purposeful misinformation and lies combined with modern technology is a really terrifying force. It’s further dividing our country. It’s scary. I read in the next year or so there is technology where you can take somebody’s speech, take some video footage of somebody, imitate their voice and get the mouth movements right and have them say anything. That goes out to millions of people that don’t know any better. All of a sudden, they are ready to kill this person because of the things they are allegedly saying. So it literally is ‘1984.’ It’s propaganda. It’s terrifying.”

What’s your outlook on the good elements ultimately being able to prevail over the bad elements of this?



Kerr: “I think the younger generation is our hope. They’re getting more people to vote. My movement is the gun control and gun safety measures. Things are finally starting to change in that area. But over 90 percent of Americans want universal background checks. Then yet the leaders in Congress have votes that do not reflect the will of the American people. So the only way that can change is if you vote them out. So I’m encouraged by some of the gun control groups and gun safety groups like the Brady Campaign, the Sandy Hook Promise, March for Our Lives, the Giffords’ group. What is happening is, especially for March for Our Lives, there is a group of young people fed up with all of these school shootings. They are setting up these chapters all over the country. What each chapter is trying to do is get people to vote.

The reason we don’t have sensible gun laws is the NRA has always been really powerful and has always funded elections at the grassroots level. Now these groups that I’m talking about are actually starting to fund elections themselves. So as the money evens out and influence evens out, these younger generations are going to impose the will of the people. The vast majority of people don’t think AR-15’s should be allowed in the hands of a citizen. Or high-capacity magazines. They want background checks, as I mentioned. So the hope lies in people voting in good conscience for the protection and safety and each other and not some crazed, fringe viewpoint that somehow our freedom is tied to our right to an AR-15.”



Back to the good end of it, what jumped out to you with Brandon’s Armstrong imitation of the guys?



Kerr: “It was hilarious. It seems like more and more people are doing that stuff these days. The guy who was on Bleacher Report. I don’t know his name is. But he did Klay before that. It’s so fun. Stuff like that is so fun. There’s a lot of good and bad, too.”

When you signed up for this [in 2014], they started to have a good thing going. But did you foresee at that time this kind of success you’re having?



Kerr: “I only saw four Finals appearances. Only four, but not five. We’ve exceeded expectations (laughs). No, I knew this was a potentially great team. I thought we could compete for a championship. But I had no idea how good Draymond Green was. When I became the coach, I slotted David Lee in as a starter. I remember sitting at my desk upstairs writing on the dry erase wall in my office, I wrote down what I thought would be the rotation. I slotted Draymond Green in for 10 minutes a game because that is what he played the previous year [Green averaged 21.9 minutes in 2013-14 and then 31.5 minutes in 2014-15]. I had no idea he was this good. For him to develop was really the key.

I knew how good Steph and Klay were. I knew how good Andre was. But maybe I didn’t appreciate Andre as much as I do now. But I knew he was damn good. I already thought this was a playoff team, and we can get better. Where the improvement needed to happen was on the offensive side. The defensive side was great. They just needed the maturity that comes with being together, the continuity and sharing the ball. I remember thinking we can be really good and can compete with anybody. But I couldn’t have imagined this. I don’t think any of us could. We’re all lucky to be here together. We’ve been together and are trying to do something really special.”

To circle it back to the beginning with your reading, what did you take away from the Cubs book?



Kerr: “In the Cubs book, Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon are so dynamic. They understand culture. The two of them together had a vision for the Cubs culture that they wanted to build from the ground up. They did it. It was fascinating to read how they did it. I love stories like that. Lute Olson, my college coach [at Arizona], inherited a team that was 4-24 his first year. That was my first year. The team was 4-24 the year before. We went 11-17 his first year and then we went 21-10 and made the tournament in the second year. That started a streak of 25 straight NCAA tournaments. How the hell did Lute Olson take a team that literally was buried into the ground at 4-24 as one of the worst teams in the country and in two years create a juggernaut? It’s all foundational. It’s all creating a culture and a foundation of strength and fiber. It’s something that withstands the adversity that will hit, no matter what. It’s really inspiring. It’s one of the reasons I loved watching other sports. It’s to see what other coaches are doing and what other teams are doing.”

Are there any other sports books you read recently that you found interesting or even applies to your job?



Kerr: “I read a book about Bill Belichick during the regular season. A lot of fascinating things about Belichick, his game planning and talking to people who know him. I have a lot of friends in the NFL and one of the things I took that was an interesting comment from friends of mine, they say that Belichick makes you play left handed. I thought that was a really interesting way of putting it. You think about the Super Bowl. It was against a high octane Rams offense. What did they score? Three points. They didn’t even score a touchdown. This defense that the Patriots ran was wild. It was just a bizarre scheme. But if you have two weeks to prepare, you trust your guys. You sign guys who have versatility. You sign guys who can play multiple positions. That struck me. Make the other team play left handed. Can you do that? That’s another question. But that’s what you try to do. You take them away from their strengths.”

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