WEBVTT - Episode 5 - The Dream Season 0:00:03.789 --> 0:00:06.709 Dubb Dynasty is a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA. 0:00:08.469 --> 0:00:10.749 They do have a time out, decide not to use 0:00:10.749 --> 0:00:18.269 a Curry wait on top with six steps of second 0:00:18.349 --> 0:00:28.149 the morning, we'll polly join a touchdowns, beat the. 0:00:28.149 --> 0:00:34.949 Clock from midport, Curry Hey back home, no file speaking 0:00:35.069 --> 0:00:35.549 for Cleveland. 0:00:35.869 --> 0:00:36.669 I had to Curry. 0:00:36.869 --> 0:00:42.149 Curry sets fire, puts up back, Steph Curry home way. 0:00:41.909 --> 0:00:47.669 Down from mid courtway. 0:00:50.909 --> 0:00:53.949 Those were some of the moments that transformed Steph Curry 0:00:53.989 --> 0:01:00.109 from most valuable to mostly magical. I'm Israel Utierres and 0:01:00.229 --> 0:01:05.869 this is dubbed Dynasty. Curry shots often start from so 0:01:06.029 --> 0:01:09.068 far out the ball could use a roadmap to find 0:01:09.068 --> 0:01:13.229 the basket. The shots begin from such a distance you 0:01:13.229 --> 0:01:18.628 could hold a short conversation about it between release and swish. 0:01:18.708 --> 0:01:22.148 It's just one ingredient of Curry magic. It just so 0:01:22.268 --> 0:01:24.589 happens to be his most mesmerizing trick. 0:01:27.869 --> 0:01:30.749 Curl will just dribble it out and the friends, who 0:01:30.749 --> 0:01:34.589 are also obviously aware of Paul George there one. 0:01:34.469 --> 0:01:45.109 Tool ware whoa job by half Paul point five seconds 0:01:45.149 --> 0:01:54.309 for Curry at three D three, The basketball like a 0:01:54.428 --> 0:01:58.028 laser cutting through the atmosphere, regardless of the elements finds 0:01:58.069 --> 0:02:01.189 its way to the rip, whether it's coming from seventy 0:02:01.229 --> 0:02:04.269 feet away in a game that counts, or from well 0:02:04.269 --> 0:02:06.349 off the court when they don't count. As part of 0:02:06.349 --> 0:02:09.509 his pregame shooting routine at home, Curry seems to have 0:02:09.629 --> 0:02:13.109 full control of the basketball even after it leaves his hands. 0:02:14.029 --> 0:02:18.189 Only it's not an illusion. Shot clock winding down. 0:02:18.668 --> 0:02:19.709 Rry's gonna have to put it up. 0:02:19.749 --> 0:02:20.429 Launches it up. 0:02:20.429 --> 0:02:26.108 Shot clock Wow, Steph Curry with the shock clock expiring. 0:02:28.709 --> 0:02:35.668 Step Warriors assistant coach and Curry's shooting coach on the team, 0:02:35.749 --> 0:02:39.429 Bruce Frasier, better known by the team as Q, has 0:02:39.469 --> 0:02:43.709 watched Curry hit one long, ridiculous shot after another in 0:02:43.788 --> 0:02:48.309 practice settings. He knows the secret to all of Curry's trips. 0:02:50.668 --> 0:02:55.349 Somehow has a genetic gift with hand eye coordination. That's 0:02:55.349 --> 0:02:59.189 his genetic gift and as far as superior than to 0:02:59.228 --> 0:03:03.669 any human I've ever seen and in anything. So you 0:03:03.709 --> 0:03:06.228 give him a bowling ball, you give him a tennis racket. 0:03:06.349 --> 0:03:10.788 You know he's not professional, but he's elite at anything 0:03:10.869 --> 0:03:12.629 that you hand him and say, this is the game. 0:03:12.668 --> 0:03:14.269 So it's kind of the ball and stick. You do 0:03:14.388 --> 0:03:15.869 this and we're going to and he's going to be 0:03:15.909 --> 0:03:20.589 elite at it. Right. I can't imagine being able to 0:03:20.668 --> 0:03:22.869 flip balls with my left hand the same as my 0:03:22.989 --> 0:03:24.989 right hand, to shoot it from the here, to shoot 0:03:24.989 --> 0:03:28.228 it from here. But this guy, it's not just in 0:03:28.349 --> 0:03:31.508 these big games, but it's also just when he's messing 0:03:31.549 --> 0:03:34.949 around in the gym. So I have seen these shots, 0:03:36.349 --> 0:03:39.109 you know, throughout the years, over and over again. So 0:03:39.149 --> 0:03:42.309 in that moment, you know, Steph has practiced these shots, 0:03:42.749 --> 0:03:45.469 and he loves big moments. He loves the show. He 0:03:45.549 --> 0:03:47.829 loves the moment. No moment's too big for him. That's 0:03:47.829 --> 0:03:48.589 what he wants. 0:03:48.869 --> 0:03:52.708 Two seconds to work with Curry from Midcorn. 0:04:02.829 --> 0:04:05.029 If you were going to say, what's the mechanical brilliance, 0:04:05.069 --> 0:04:10.549 He's able to generate power in a physics form like 0:04:10.669 --> 0:04:13.469 I wouldn't know. But when you start a shot, there's 0:04:13.509 --> 0:04:16.709 there's kind of a momentum that goes into it. Along 0:04:16.789 --> 0:04:19.509 with a finely tuned skill, it's the kinetic chain that 0:04:19.669 --> 0:04:21.629 you have to generate that power. Because if you look 0:04:21.629 --> 0:04:26.109 at Stef's arms, he's got some you know, genetic beast Like. 0:04:26.149 --> 0:04:32.188 He's not a superhero, he's a self made MVP. He's 0:04:32.229 --> 0:04:35.189 a common man with thin arms and thin body and 0:04:35.509 --> 0:04:40.269 six three, but he's able to generate that force where 0:04:40.269 --> 0:04:42.188 that ball finishes right at the right moment. It's like 0:04:42.189 --> 0:04:44.509 a golfer and he's got people. It's like that force 0:04:44.629 --> 0:04:46.709 is generated and he's able to let it go right 0:04:46.709 --> 0:04:50.269 at the right moment, and he's perfected that so he 0:04:50.389 --> 0:04:54.389 shoots normal shots from range that most people aren't able 0:04:54.428 --> 0:04:56.588 to generate that kind of power, no matter how strong 0:04:56.629 --> 0:04:59.229 they are. That's one of his brilliances. It's the hand 0:04:59.308 --> 0:05:02.709 eye and the ability to generate that connectic force as 0:05:02.748 --> 0:05:04.989 you say to about ball, to release right at the 0:05:05.069 --> 0:05:07.109 right time, and then to fine tune at the end. 0:05:08.229 --> 0:05:10.229 If you ever get access to a hot tub time 0:05:10.308 --> 0:05:12.789 machine and wanted to watch one of the most electric, 0:05:13.109 --> 0:05:17.269 satisfying and transformative seasons ever, set that hot tub for 0:05:17.349 --> 0:05:20.988 the twenty fifteen to sixteen NBA season and focus in 0:05:21.069 --> 0:05:21.589 on Curry. 0:05:22.549 --> 0:05:23.549 He was coming off. 0:05:23.349 --> 0:05:26.669 His first NBA Most Valuable Player award and was on 0:05:26.748 --> 0:05:30.229 the defending champion team that was effectively running it back. 0:05:31.109 --> 0:05:33.948 Steph was twenty seven years old, at the peak of 0:05:33.988 --> 0:05:37.308 his prime, and had overcome the ankle injuries and the 0:05:37.389 --> 0:05:40.988 doubt he had helped Warriors Basketball go from a fun 0:05:41.069 --> 0:05:45.708 brand to a franchise, lifting the NBA in a time 0:05:45.748 --> 0:05:48.549 when peak of his powers Lebron and end of career 0:05:48.629 --> 0:05:52.549 Kobe Bryant were still giving the NBA some life, Curry 0:05:52.549 --> 0:05:57.069 and the Warriors were providing the energy and the electricity somehow. 0:05:57.509 --> 0:06:00.149 Despite a surprise season that brought the Warriors their first 0:06:00.229 --> 0:06:03.948 championship in forty years, it felt like Golden State still 0:06:03.988 --> 0:06:07.629 had more to give, and Curry what's the best example 0:06:07.629 --> 0:06:11.589 of that. His confidence shot through the roof this season, 0:06:12.109 --> 0:06:17.349 and his play demonstrated as much. As Fraser explains, Curry 0:06:17.428 --> 0:06:20.628 was prepared for even more of a breakthrough because his 0:06:20.709 --> 0:06:23.988 initial point to believe under Steve Kerr was such a success. 0:06:25.988 --> 0:06:29.349 I was lucky to be good friends with Steve and 0:06:29.428 --> 0:06:34.229 former teammates, so I had a lot of insight into 0:06:34.428 --> 0:06:38.149 what we may want to do offensively, but it was uncertain, 0:06:38.589 --> 0:06:42.309 and Steve had a vision, but you know, we had 0:06:42.308 --> 0:06:46.109 He had questioned, He had he had considered a lot 0:06:46.149 --> 0:06:48.628 of the things that his former coaches that he really 0:06:48.789 --> 0:06:52.068 liked did and he wanted to implement some of those things. 0:06:52.109 --> 0:06:56.709 But Steph was the question marking it because and the 0:06:56.748 --> 0:06:58.508 rest of the team, you know, like, do you put 0:06:58.549 --> 0:07:00.909 in the triangle offense? Because he loved the triangle from 0:07:00.909 --> 0:07:04.229 Phil and what they did in Chicago, and he loved 0:07:04.229 --> 0:07:07.789 the movement and the re based actions of it. But 0:07:08.269 --> 0:07:10.189 it might take the ball out of Steph's hands. That 0:07:10.309 --> 0:07:12.789 was a question. And Steph with the ball in his 0:07:12.829 --> 0:07:16.749 hands was brilliant. And then you know, with the other 0:07:16.829 --> 0:07:20.629 pieces move in harmony with that. And you know, even 0:07:20.669 --> 0:07:22.829 some of the stuff that Papovich did with the Horns 0:07:22.869 --> 0:07:26.509 action in the Strong and Weeks, So he wanted to 0:07:26.629 --> 0:07:29.909 include some of that. And ironically, he really loved some 0:07:29.949 --> 0:07:32.909 of the kind of the split action that Sloan did. 0:07:33.069 --> 0:07:36.149 And so there was Lennie Wilkins, there was some there 0:07:36.189 --> 0:07:38.629 was some influence from some of his former coaches that 0:07:38.709 --> 0:07:41.709 he was considering piecing together. But how would this all 0:07:41.789 --> 0:07:46.949 work with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. And so the 0:07:46.949 --> 0:07:49.389 the take on it was a hybrid of that of 0:07:49.429 --> 0:07:52.629 those things, knowing that Steph still had to have the 0:07:52.669 --> 0:07:55.708 ball in his hands. And as we grew with Steph 0:07:55.749 --> 0:07:59.629 and that team, the reality was is that we couldn't 0:07:59.709 --> 0:08:03.629 take Steph's kind of Mustang spirit away. From him. So 0:08:03.669 --> 0:08:05.349 he was going to make mistakes, he was going to 0:08:05.429 --> 0:08:06.989 throw the ball around a little bit, and he was 0:08:07.029 --> 0:08:08.949 going to shoot from wherever we wanted. And that was 0:08:08.989 --> 0:08:11.789 good because if we started to talk about shot selection 0:08:12.149 --> 0:08:14.669 or this is a good shot, there was a bad shot, 0:08:14.829 --> 0:08:17.709 we felt like that would take away his spirit and 0:08:17.749 --> 0:08:19.749 we wanted that spirit because it was it was a 0:08:19.789 --> 0:08:23.829 brilliant spirit. So he sort of showed us what he 0:08:23.909 --> 0:08:28.709 was capable of, and I think Steve, without contradicting myself, 0:08:28.749 --> 0:08:34.469 bridled that enough to you know, to make it click 0:08:34.669 --> 0:08:37.869 with all with all the others. So we had to 0:08:37.949 --> 0:08:40.949 live through some of those crazy shots, but some of 0:08:40.949 --> 0:08:43.949 those crazy shots went in. So is that a crazy 0:08:43.949 --> 0:08:47.389 shot or is that a brilliance of this player? And 0:08:47.429 --> 0:08:50.789 so we we learned that that was one of the stuff, 0:08:51.869 --> 0:08:53.709 you know, strengths, and. 0:08:55.509 --> 0:08:59.549 It really changed the game with the range he had 0:09:00.229 --> 0:09:03.429 and the ability to shoot early in the shot clot 0:09:03.549 --> 0:09:05.269 where he maybe you're going to get something better if 0:09:05.309 --> 0:09:08.269 you run in and play, but we let stuff and Clay 0:09:08.269 --> 0:09:08.949 both go. 0:09:09.629 --> 0:09:13.109 With Curry as free and confident as ever, the small 0:09:13.189 --> 0:09:17.349 details of his game began to improve, making him something 0:09:17.389 --> 0:09:20.589 the game had never seen before. A mix of grace, 0:09:20.949 --> 0:09:24.909 skill and killer instinct that could get his buckets from 0:09:24.909 --> 0:09:29.469 anywhere on the floor. Somehow, he was better than the 0:09:29.509 --> 0:09:33.509 previous season, an MVP season, because he read the game 0:09:33.669 --> 0:09:37.949 so much better. According to Fraser, he. 0:09:37.949 --> 0:09:40.749 Learned how to move without the ball. That was something 0:09:40.749 --> 0:09:44.109 that he hadn't done much of prior to that time. 0:09:44.509 --> 0:09:46.829 I've mentioned this about the Memphis series. He learned how 0:09:46.829 --> 0:09:51.309 to relocate a similar he learned how to set screens 0:09:51.509 --> 0:09:55.389 for others. He's a brilliant screamer. And then he became 0:09:55.429 --> 0:09:58.269 a much better passer. He was always a capable passer, 0:09:58.549 --> 0:10:01.429 but he learned how to pass. So the evolution of 0:10:01.469 --> 0:10:06.429 stuff Curry as a player and the skill set evolved, 0:10:07.109 --> 0:10:08.708 and the evolution of stuff. 0:10:08.549 --> 0:10:13.389 Is as kind of the maturity of his game started 0:10:13.389 --> 0:10:16.389 to grow too. And that's where it is now that 0:10:16.029 --> 0:10:20.189 that was those were growing years for him to start 0:10:20.229 --> 0:10:22.669 to see the game in different ways and then to 0:10:22.909 --> 0:10:27.828 utilize it to his skill set. And so the championship 0:10:28.469 --> 0:10:33.589 was proof that this is the way he could be elite, 0:10:34.469 --> 0:10:36.509 not just in a high ball screen or not just 0:10:36.549 --> 0:10:37.109 in a one. 0:10:36.949 --> 0:10:40.109 On one action. He could be elite by using all 0:10:40.149 --> 0:10:43.189 of these tools to perfect his game, and he had 0:10:43.189 --> 0:10:47.549 the people around him Andre Rudala, Andrew Boget, brilliant passer, 0:10:47.629 --> 0:10:50.709 Sean Livingston. He had these guys that could get him 0:10:50.709 --> 0:10:54.589 the ball in places that he was unstoppable, and he 0:10:54.789 --> 0:10:58.869 moved those places and they cater tuned. So I think 0:10:59.069 --> 0:11:01.989 I think the mindset for him was I can evolve 0:11:02.389 --> 0:11:03.149 in this way. 0:11:04.229 --> 0:11:07.829 Steph wasted no time showing off the new, finer details 0:11:07.829 --> 0:11:11.309 of his game in the fifteen to sixteen season. Chef Curtain, 0:11:11.589 --> 0:11:14.229 as Drake first called him in a twenty thirteen song 0:11:14.389 --> 0:11:17.349 zero to one hundred, was cooking with the sauce from 0:11:17.349 --> 0:11:20.829 the jump, scoring forty in his first game, then fifty 0:11:20.869 --> 0:11:24.149 three in his third game, both coming against the poor 0:11:24.229 --> 0:11:25.349 New Orleans Pelicans. 0:11:26.949 --> 0:11:31.509 Got babit switched out on a hurry for three and 0:11:31.869 --> 0:11:32.629 fifty one. 0:11:33.389 --> 0:11:38.709 Fuck, he makes believers out of it, but they still 0:11:38.709 --> 0:11:39.149 don't get. 0:11:39.109 --> 0:11:39.789 Up any closer. 0:11:40.069 --> 0:11:42.269 Hurry, He's going to go to the line. 0:11:43.349 --> 0:11:46.149 He hits New Orleans for forty opening night. 0:11:48.029 --> 0:11:53.189 And sitting on fifty two right now fifty three. 0:11:54.189 --> 0:11:57.149 Step talked to Warriors sideline with Porter ros Goold on 0:11:57.189 --> 0:12:01.949 Blue Day after the game about his ever lengthening range. 0:12:02.189 --> 0:12:02.949 So hard this season. 0:12:02.989 --> 0:12:06.429 It looks like you are getting very comfortable taking deep, deep, 0:12:06.469 --> 0:12:07.589 deep deep threes. 0:12:07.949 --> 0:12:10.189 Are you working on that? I mean, what is your range? 0:12:10.229 --> 0:12:11.589 Is there anywhere that you hesitate? 0:12:12.549 --> 0:12:16.149 I mean, with that reason, bruh, I hope that I 0:12:16.229 --> 0:12:19.589 keep making him. It gives me that much more confidence. 0:12:19.629 --> 0:12:22.989 Is if you mess a couple in a row, No, 0:12:23.189 --> 0:12:24.829 I get a little bit close if we keep shooting. 0:12:24.869 --> 0:12:26.309 But I mean, as long as I'm making him, I'll 0:12:26.349 --> 0:12:26.989 keep taking them. 0:12:26.869 --> 0:12:29.269 Within those but then rhythm. 0:12:29.309 --> 0:12:32.429 That fifty three point game would already be, by advanced 0:12:32.429 --> 0:12:36.349 statistical measure, his best complete game of the season, but 0:12:36.429 --> 0:12:39.589 it was just the beginning of jaw dropping shooting performances. 0:12:39.989 --> 0:12:42.389 He was in such a comfort zone to start this season, 0:12:43.069 --> 0:12:45.429 Curry put on some of the more efficient shows of 0:12:45.469 --> 0:12:48.389 his career, like the time he visited his hometown of 0:12:48.469 --> 0:12:54.589 Charlotte on December second, with his father Dell watching, as 0:12:54.589 --> 0:12:57.269 he normally does in these contests because he's the color 0:12:57.269 --> 0:13:01.509 analyst on the Hornets TV broadcast. Curry dropped forth, but 0:13:01.589 --> 0:13:06.149 he did so on just eighteen shots with four free throws. 0:13:07.149 --> 0:13:10.669 It sounds like a mathematical riddle, but he managed forty 0:13:10.709 --> 0:13:13.869 points because he hit fourteen of his eighteen shots for 0:13:13.949 --> 0:13:17.509 a seventy eight percent clip, including eight of his eleven 0:13:17.589 --> 0:13:21.309 three point attempts. 0:13:21.389 --> 0:13:32.669 Curry just incredible, Hope, That's what he does. He is 0:13:32.669 --> 0:13:36.229 the best shooter on the planet today and he knows it. 0:13:36.589 --> 0:13:41.229 He delivered. Now, I can totally understand if you're confused 0:13:41.349 --> 0:13:44.309 given the reaction of that crap. But yes, that game 0:13:44.349 --> 0:13:48.309 was in sharp. It was a road game. Until it 0:13:48.389 --> 0:13:54.749 was After that game, the Warriors twentieth of the season, 0:13:55.349 --> 0:13:59.749 Curry's team still hadn't lost. They were undefeated and stayed 0:13:59.789 --> 0:14:03.189 so for another four games after that. It would immediately 0:14:03.189 --> 0:14:05.589 spark the question of whether this team could break the 0:14:05.669 --> 0:14:08.549 Chicago Bulls nineteen ninety six mark of seventy two to 0:14:08.589 --> 0:14:12.549 ten as the greatest regular season ever, and the twenty 0:14:12.549 --> 0:14:15.069 four wins to open the campaign broke the record for 0:14:15.109 --> 0:14:18.429 the longest win streak to start a season by nine games. 0:14:19.069 --> 0:14:21.749 It was a magical run in the midst of a 0:14:21.789 --> 0:14:25.789 magical run, two ninety one Boston by one Curry. 0:14:27.309 --> 0:14:29.589 Wow, I want to tell you if that is one 0:14:29.589 --> 0:14:31.149 of the best huts I've ever seen. 0:14:31.189 --> 0:14:32.629 Anybody think I'm ne'. 0:14:32.629 --> 0:14:35.269 A minute to go in the game, Green they want, 0:14:35.309 --> 0:14:38.549 you know, they want Curry handling the ball and Harry coups. 0:14:38.669 --> 0:14:46.109 There it goes, ooh, you didn't be that wasn't just 0:14:46.189 --> 0:14:49.909 another roadkie. That was teeny Garden in Boston. 0:14:50.829 --> 0:14:52.909 Don't think we didn't hear a good amount of cheers 0:14:52.949 --> 0:14:56.629 mixed in with those groans. The Warriors were becoming a 0:14:56.669 --> 0:15:01.629 phenomenon everywhere, but it was missing something someone. 0:15:01.989 --> 0:15:06.069 To be more precise, Steve Kerr had not been a 0:15:06.109 --> 0:15:09.749 part of it. Two days into training camp, the Warriors 0:15:09.789 --> 0:15:13.149 coach decided to take time off to address complications from 0:15:13.149 --> 0:15:15.549 what was supposed to be a simple back procedure to 0:15:15.629 --> 0:15:16.749 repair a ruptured disc. 0:15:18.669 --> 0:15:22.429 So you know, when you when you have a surgery, 0:15:22.429 --> 0:15:26.309 you asked, you know, what are the what are the risks? 0:15:27.429 --> 0:15:31.989 And so I, my, my, my surgery was the least 0:15:32.109 --> 0:15:34.949 risky of any vacks. You know, it's the most basic 0:15:35.069 --> 0:15:37.509 micro diskected me where there you have a ruptured disc 0:15:37.549 --> 0:15:39.629 and they're just taking the pieces of the discount. And 0:15:41.629 --> 0:15:45.709 so I asked about what the risks were, and I said, well, okay, 0:15:45.789 --> 0:15:49.629 well what are the chances of that? And I'm not 0:15:49.669 --> 0:15:52.269 going to get into all the you know, the medical 0:15:52.549 --> 0:15:57.429 detail of what happened, but basically the chances were incredibly 0:15:57.469 --> 0:15:59.829 slim that anything would go wrong, but they did. 0:16:01.429 --> 0:16:04.589 What had been considered routine far as back surgeries go 0:16:05.109 --> 0:16:09.189 turned into a nightmare. During the operation in twenty fifteen, 0:16:09.749 --> 0:16:14.629 Kerr's dura, the membrane surrounding the spinal cord was accidentally cut, 0:16:14.829 --> 0:16:18.829 allowing some cerebro spinal fluid to leak. The leak caused 0:16:18.949 --> 0:16:22.589 severe headaches and fatigue, and by September of twenty fifteen, 0:16:23.069 --> 0:16:26.109 Kerr needed another surgery to address it. He was still 0:16:26.149 --> 0:16:29.549 recovering from said surgery when training camp started, so the 0:16:29.629 --> 0:16:33.229 riggers that come with coaching were impossible for him, and 0:16:33.269 --> 0:16:36.349 the recovery would last far longer than the forty three 0:16:36.389 --> 0:16:37.189 games he missed. 0:16:37.669 --> 0:16:42.989 So it was pretty rough and life changing and changed 0:16:43.029 --> 0:16:46.789 everything in my life in terms of how how I 0:16:46.829 --> 0:16:50.149 had to approach things, how I had to work to 0:16:50.629 --> 0:16:53.269 get my body right, how I had to work to 0:16:53.309 --> 0:16:58.029 manage the chronic pain that ensued headaches. It was a 0:16:58.149 --> 0:17:00.829 challenge of a lifetime and remains that. You know, that 0:17:00.949 --> 0:17:04.829 was the biggest thing that I will ever face because 0:17:04.909 --> 0:17:07.829 health trump's all, you know, the other stuff is all 0:17:08.789 --> 0:17:11.869 all dependent on good health, you know, enjoying your life 0:17:11.909 --> 0:17:16.429 and family and your work and it all is dependent 0:17:16.469 --> 0:17:20.589 on health. So it was a tough, tough time. 0:17:21.229 --> 0:17:21.869 It was terrible. 0:17:22.029 --> 0:17:24.388 It was terrible. I mean I was I was thrilled for. 0:17:24.429 --> 0:17:26.869 The team, but I felt left out. 0:17:26.989 --> 0:17:29.349 You know, I'm laying at home on my bed and 0:17:29.509 --> 0:17:33.829 watching this dominant team win night after night, and I'm 0:17:33.869 --> 0:17:37.869 not there to enjoy being part of it. Yeah, it was. 0:17:37.989 --> 0:17:38.629 It was rough. 0:17:42.229 --> 0:17:45.949 Rick Welts, Warriors, team president at the time, compared this 0:17:46.029 --> 0:17:49.629 extended stretch to the time Curry was battling ankle injuries. 0:17:50.589 --> 0:17:53.589 There was uncertainty surrounding the future of one of the 0:17:53.669 --> 0:17:56.509 key and most treasured figures of the organization. 0:17:57.469 --> 0:18:01.469 Here's Wells one of my scariest times, you know, in 0:18:01.549 --> 0:18:04.789 terms of the people that you're around and you see, 0:18:05.469 --> 0:18:08.109 you know, the challenges that they face. And just as 0:18:08.109 --> 0:18:10.709 you described, I mean just his face was a different color, 0:18:10.989 --> 0:18:14.869 like he just wasn't uh, you know, you could just 0:18:14.909 --> 0:18:20.269 see what he was battling and heroically but but still, 0:18:20.469 --> 0:18:22.509 you know, pain is pain, and there's just no way 0:18:22.549 --> 0:18:26.829 to completely avoid it or basket and you know, stepping 0:18:26.869 --> 0:18:30.469 away in the midst of you know, an amazing run 0:18:30.629 --> 0:18:34.668 playoff run right, and not knowing again if you're going 0:18:34.749 --> 0:18:37.949 to be healthy enough to come back. For the same 0:18:37.989 --> 0:18:40.429 reasons we talked about with Steph, just at that point 0:18:40.429 --> 0:18:43.229 it was such a beloved part of the organization that 0:18:43.269 --> 0:18:45.829 it was it was much more a personal thing than 0:18:45.869 --> 0:18:50.029 it was like value to the team thing, because he 0:18:50.109 --> 0:18:53.189 really wanted for him to recover in a way that 0:18:53.229 --> 0:18:57.429 he could enjoy life the way that he always enjoyed life, 0:18:57.429 --> 0:19:01.349 because that that that life joy he shared with everybody 0:19:01.349 --> 0:19:05.669 around him and continues to to this day. 0:19:06.109 --> 0:19:09.429 The warriors near spotless play for half that season didn't 0:19:09.469 --> 0:19:12.629 mask the pain for Kerk, but it did take attention 0:19:12.749 --> 0:19:15.989 away from the fact he was out. In fact, as 0:19:16.069 --> 0:19:19.908 memory serves, there wasn't that much national sympathy for Kerr 0:19:20.229 --> 0:19:23.109 because we really didn't know how bad the complications were. 0:19:24.029 --> 0:19:28.029 There were, however, raging debates about whether Kerr deserved credit 0:19:28.069 --> 0:19:32.029 for the wins. Those thirty nine wins and four losses 0:19:32.509 --> 0:19:35.909 where the Warriors were coached by assistant Luke Walton, those 0:19:35.909 --> 0:19:39.829 were credited to Steve Kerr. It was a technicality that 0:19:39.909 --> 0:19:43.629 stirred so much debate it even reached Kerr directly before 0:19:43.629 --> 0:19:47.869 he came back to the side, well maybe not directly. 0:19:49.789 --> 0:19:51.749 The last few weeks before I came back, I was 0:19:51.789 --> 0:19:54.428 traveling with the team before I started coaching, and we 0:19:54.429 --> 0:19:57.709 were in Portland and Luke Walton and I went to 0:19:57.709 --> 0:19:59.749 dinner with a couple of the other coaches and he 0:19:59.869 --> 0:20:02.309 jumped in an uber and Luke's in the front seat. 0:20:02.349 --> 0:20:05.549 I'm behind the driver and the driver says, hey, you're 0:20:05.589 --> 0:20:09.109 Luke Walton and he goes yeah. He goes, man, it's 0:20:09.789 --> 0:20:14.189 it's it's bull that coach Kerr is getting credit for 0:20:14.229 --> 0:20:16.229 all your wins. I mean, you're like thirty nine and 0:20:16.269 --> 0:20:18.309 two and they and I read the other day they're 0:20:18.309 --> 0:20:21.149 given the given the credit to coach Kerr. He gets 0:20:21.149 --> 0:20:23.709 the wins on his record, and we just it was 0:20:23.749 --> 0:20:24.509 it was so fun. 0:20:24.549 --> 0:20:27.029 We ran with it, you know. We all started chirping 0:20:27.069 --> 0:20:30.549 away like yeah, it's such cool like and he's too 0:20:30.749 --> 0:20:33.549 like that guy, you know, and he's taking credit for 0:20:33.669 --> 0:20:34.669 and he's not even here. 0:20:36.069 --> 0:20:38.668 Fraser was one of the coaches in that uber. He 0:20:38.749 --> 0:20:41.229 remembers Walton nailing the dismount. At the end of the 0:20:41.229 --> 0:20:41.829 car ride. 0:20:43.029 --> 0:20:44.709 We get to the restaurant, we got out of the 0:20:44.749 --> 0:20:47.069 car and Luth looks at the driver, said, Hey, what 0:20:47.229 --> 0:20:51.669 your name? Guy's mad. He's like came out meet Steve Kerr. Guy, 0:20:52.429 --> 0:20:56.269 guy who turned like ghostly white. It's funny that you know, 0:20:56.309 --> 0:20:58.229 and Steve's got a good sense of Umisoda's luke. 0:20:58.309 --> 0:21:04.429 So Kerr would struggle with back pain and headaches even 0:21:04.469 --> 0:21:08.188 after returning, still occasionally taking time away from the team, 0:21:08.349 --> 0:21:12.429 including during the twenty sixteen playoffs. As a sideline reporter, 0:21:12.949 --> 0:21:15.309 I'd get access to Kerr before games along with the 0:21:15.349 --> 0:21:18.509 rest of the broadcast team, and around this time he 0:21:18.629 --> 0:21:22.349 often looked and sounded miserable. He tried to be as 0:21:22.389 --> 0:21:25.429 pleasant as he'd always been and share stories like he 0:21:25.469 --> 0:21:29.189 always had, but you can tell he was grinning through pain. 0:21:29.709 --> 0:21:33.069 He couldn't sit properly in his chair. His face was 0:21:33.229 --> 0:21:37.029 some combination of gray and pale green. His smile was 0:21:37.149 --> 0:21:40.469 certainly forced, and this was after he'd been back for 0:21:40.509 --> 0:21:46.869 some time. Needless to say, Kerr absolutely needed those forty 0:21:46.869 --> 0:21:51.189 three games off. And while Walton's part in this usually 0:21:51.269 --> 0:21:54.429 just restarts the debate about who deserves the wins, the 0:21:54.469 --> 0:21:57.789 assistant coach who's now with the Detroit Pistons deserves a 0:21:57.829 --> 0:22:00.668 ton of credit for nurturing this dynasty at a key period. 0:22:01.349 --> 0:22:04.269 Bruce Fraser noticed Kerr's condition at the start of training 0:22:04.309 --> 0:22:07.269 camp and notified Welton of what might come. 0:22:10.829 --> 0:22:12.629 I don't want to sound like some whisper or some 0:22:12.709 --> 0:22:15.669 of here, but I went to Luke and I said, 0:22:15.709 --> 0:22:19.109 you you should be ready to coach this team. And 0:22:19.109 --> 0:22:20.829 he's like, what I said, I don't know if he's 0:22:20.829 --> 0:22:22.269 going to be able to do it, and he looked 0:22:22.309 --> 0:22:23.949 at me like I was crazy. I said, you better 0:22:23.989 --> 0:22:29.389 start preparing. And to credit to Luke, you know, Luke 0:22:30.429 --> 0:22:37.629 prepared and was had the respect of the players in 0:22:37.669 --> 0:22:40.509 a good way where he was he was a relevant 0:22:40.549 --> 0:22:44.589 former player and capable, very very bright basketball mind. You 0:22:44.629 --> 0:22:48.629 don't always get that through just talking to him because 0:22:48.629 --> 0:22:53.789 he's pretty laid back, you know, California draws, but he's 0:22:54.189 --> 0:23:01.389 very very bright mind and the player is Actually our 0:23:01.429 --> 0:23:04.509 team was so such a well oiled machine at that 0:23:04.549 --> 0:23:07.388 point after that first year and all the patterns that 0:23:07.429 --> 0:23:09.948 we had rehearsed and gotten better at with what we 0:23:09.949 --> 0:23:14.589 were doing. That credit to those guys. They they not 0:23:14.709 --> 0:23:18.269 only were really good at, you know, the things we 0:23:18.349 --> 0:23:22.148 had put in, but they gave Luke a lot of 0:23:22.229 --> 0:23:24.509 rope and wanted to do well for him too, so 0:23:24.589 --> 0:23:26.989 he had the respect of the players. I think they 0:23:27.069 --> 0:23:29.949 knew that they gave him rope with some of our 0:23:30.269 --> 0:23:34.709 you know ato's, and they came execution me. Luke and 0:23:34.789 --> 0:23:36.908 I had a kind of a running joke. We had 0:23:36.909 --> 0:23:38.709 a play called dive roll, which was just sort of 0:23:39.469 --> 0:23:41.829 fake ball screen into a high ball screen for Steph. 0:23:42.229 --> 0:23:44.829 And anytime we weren't certain of what we may want 0:23:44.909 --> 0:23:46.789 to do, Luke would looked at me and say dive 0:23:46.869 --> 0:23:50.148 roll and start laughing because we knew that that was 0:23:50.149 --> 0:23:52.229 going to be the ball into STEP's hands and there's 0:23:52.269 --> 0:23:54.269 a good chance something good was going to happen. 0:23:56.389 --> 0:24:00.029 Behind Steph. The Warriors dived and rolled to a thirty 0:24:00.109 --> 0:24:02.869