Superhuman Stephen Curry returns and the Warriors’ dominance returns with him
OAKLAND, Calif. — The play that officially marked the return of Superhuman Stephen Curry began in a most mundane way: grabbing a defensive rebound. More
Steve Kerr
Curry leads Warriors to a big second half, win over Kings (Jan 08, 2017)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Steve Kerr pulled a Gregg Popovich. One missed defensive assignment with no backdoor help on DeMarcus Cousins, and Kerr called a timeout 18 seconds into the game. More
The Steve Kerr/Stephen Curry Crunchtime Conundrum
Steve Kerr is one of the smartest, nicest, and genuinely good person and coach in the league. Just last year, I’d have very little issue positing that he was the best mind in the entire NBA. More
Suns’ Earl Watson: Support for marijuana can be ‘slippery slope’
OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s willingness to speak out in favor of sports leagues permitting medicinal marijuana usage to help cope with pain hasn’t completely resonated with everyone.
Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson said he understands where Kerr is coming from, but he’s concerned Kerr’s message of embracing marijuana might be taken the wrong way by youngsters.
“I think our rhetoric on it has to be very careful, because you have a lot of kids where I’m from that’s reading this, and they think [marijuana use is] cool,” Watson told ESPN on Saturday evening. “It’s not cool. Where I’m from, you don’t get six fouls to foul out; you get three strikes. One strike leads to another. I’m just being honest with you, so you have to be very careful with your rhetoric.”
Born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, Watson grew up surrounded by poverty, violent crimes, drug addicts and gangs. He sadly has a long list of childhood friends who are either incarcerated or dead. From his personal experience over the years, he said he witnessed many close to him who smoked marijuana, which he believes served as a gateway to hardcore drugs.
Watson said he doesn’t feel the coaching profession is the appropriate line of work for publicly advocating the benefits of consuming marijuana as a pain reliever.
“I think it would have to come from a physician, not a coach,” Watson…
Warriors’ Steve Kerr takes up torch for marijuana to help manage pain
Somewhat lost in the Golden State Warriors’ run to a league-record 73 wins last season was the fact that Coach Steve Kerr missed the first 39 of them. Kerr sat out roughly five months recovering from multiple back surgeries after the Warriors won the NBA championship in 2015. On Friday, while discussing his recovery, Kerr became the latest high-profile sports figure to advocate for the use of marijuana as a way to deal with chronic pain.
“I guess maybe I can even get in some trouble for this, but I’ve actually tried it twice during the last year and a half, when I’ve been going through this chronic pain that I’ve been dealing with,” Kerr told The Warriors Insider Podcast on Friday. “[After] a lot of research, a lot of advice from people and I have no idea if maybe I would have failed a drug test. I don’t even know if I’m subject to a drug test or any laws from the NBA.”
Kerr’s stance comes after trying several different types of painkillers to manage not lingering pain in his back and frequent headaches. He believes that Vicodin, a common painkiller that “athletes everywhere are prescribed . . . like it’s vitamin C, like it’s no big deal,” is not an answer.
“I know enough, especially over the last…
Warriors take over best record in West with ‘awful’ win over the Lakers
LOS ANGELES — Steve Kerr took a frustrated timeout before the Warriors had a point. Golden State missed its first four 3s, including two Steph Curry clangs, giving him 12 long-range bricks on 12 attempts in Los Angeles this season. The Staples Center was working its Warrior voodoo magic early.
But it didn’t last. Moments after Curry’s second miss, Kevin Durant pinpointed a cross-court pass through traffic into Curry’s hands. He rose and, finally, nailed a left corner 3. The Curry hex was lifted. A Warrior barrage followed, resulting in a 109-85 Friday night win over the Lakers.
It was the Warriors’ second straight blowout of the Lakers and 10th straight win overall, pushing them to 14-2 on the season. Earlier Friday night, the Clippers fell in Detroit, dropping them to 14-3 and giving the Warriors sole possession of the West’s top seed for the first time this season.
This Golden State victory, unlike many this season, was built on the back of a stingy end-to-end defensive effort, making a solid but not spectacular offensive performance hold up.
The Lakers entered the night at a disadvantage. They were missing three talented offensive players: D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Nick Young. Without the trio, the Lakers struggled to create any consistent string of good looks.
The Warriors were sturdy on the perimeter and disruptive even when the Lakers got past the frontline. Golden State blocked 10 more shots on Friday night, upping the per game total to 6.2 this season, tied for the league’s third most. They became the first team with three games of double-digit blocks.
“They shot 35 percent from the field,” Durant said. “That’s what you want.”
Zaza Pachulia was the surprise contributor in this category on Friday night. He entered the night with three blocks combined in the season’s first 15 games. He had three blocks against the Lakers.
Included among them: Pachulia got talented Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram on an isolation switch, stayed with him on a dribble move and then stuffed his shot. It was a lowlight of a rough performance for Ingram, who…