NBA Coach Of The Year: 2015-16

#2 - Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors)

Steve Kerr

Before anybody is aghast at how Kerr isn’t first, this is about the Coach Of The Year, and NOT Team Of The Year.

We are not going to talk about the record-breaking 73 wins they’ve achieved this season. It’s about something that happened earlier in the season. Steve Kerr wasn’t on the bench for 43 games. It was Luke Walton who coached the champs as Kerr was forced into an indefinite absence with back issues.

Yet, the Warriors were focused and ready from the start despite their head coach not being there. And that early season rush is what ultimately helped them set this record-setting pace. You could argue for Kerr not being there, but we have seen teams wobble even when their head coaches have been away for even just a couple of games.

Golden State though performed as if they hadn’t missed a beat and it speaks highly of a coach’s mettle and influence when the team performs in his/her absence. Yes, Walton was on the bench the first 43 games, but the ethos and values present in this team were those of Kerr’s, the ones that he had successfully inbred throughout the whole of last season.

The minute improvements from last season’s already high bar is what has helped this team break even higher. Things such as Mo Speights knocking down threes, Festus Ezeli being more dominant in the paint, Harrison Barnes playing with more confidence, Klay Thompson’s improved play off the dribble and Steph Curry’s polishing off his game. These are things built up over the off-season and in pre-season. Kerr had done his bit even before the season began.