Written by Vic Tafur at SFGate.com
He missed the first 43 games of the season, but Warriors head coach Steve Kerr still won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award Tuesday.
And that, according to former interim head coach and current assistant Luke Walton, was because of the path that Kerr had set out before he was sidelined with complications from two offseason back surgeries.
“The way he leads, with giving out responsibility and encouragement, allowed us to be able to succeed,” Walton said at the trophy presentation at the Oakland Convention Center.
Kerr and general manager Bob Myers took turns thanking Walton, who went 39-4 when the head coach was out. Kerr came back to finish the job as Golden State won a league-record 73 games in the regular season.
Kerr also thanked the rest of his staff and the players.
“Everything depends on your players,” Kerr said. “We have guys with a lot of talent and character. If guys want to be coached … and they’re really, really good, then you’re in business.”
Kerr received 64 first-place votes and 381 points in balloting by sportswriters and broadcasters from across the country and Canada. Portland’s Terry Stotts (335 points) was second and three-time winner Gregg Popovich (166 points) of San Antonio was third.
Walton tied for eighth in the voting with five points.
Kerr joins Don Nelson (1991-92) and Alex Hannum (1963-64) as the only Coach of the Year winners in the Warriors’ history.
Walton joined Kerr and Myers on the stage Tuesday, as team employees, Kerr’s family and high school and college coaches watched. It was a lighthearted ceremony — Myers wondered if Kerr could break off the shoe from the trophy and give it to Walton — that got a little emotional at times.
Myers was the first to go and talked about how Kerr dealt with the pain he encountered after his first back surgery resulted in a spinal-fluid leak.
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