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00:35All right, here we go.
00:36Coach Kerr, big win last night.
00:38How you doing, coach?
00:39Thanks for jumping on.
00:41Thanks for having me, guys.
00:42How are you?
00:43We're great, and obviously there's 1,000 things
00:46that we wanna get to with the game,
00:48but I actually was thinking just about your team,
00:51your trip, where you are now,
00:54and kind of obviously the story of your home
00:59and the disaster there earlier this year,
01:01and I was thinking that you're back in L.A.
01:04and wanted to start there and check in on your travels
01:09and how that's all going there.
01:11Well, I appreciate you asking.
01:12Yeah, I'm gonna go have dinner with my mom tonight,
01:15and it's good to be back in L.A.
01:19It's a beautiful day here,
01:20but strange to not be going to my mom's house for dinner.
01:25That's been my routine forever
01:27since I've been in the NBA.
01:28Every time I come to L.A.,
01:31I just Uber up to her house and we eat there.
01:33So we'll be at a restaurant tonight.
01:36It's her new life.
01:37She's handling it really well,
01:39but yeah, you just kinda gotta roll with it,
01:43and it is what it is.
01:46Yeah, and it just is heartbreaking,
01:48and I'm glad to know that your mom
01:49is safe and healthy and you're able to spend time with her,
01:52and Mark and I were talking earlier about this road trip.
01:55Six games, yeah, but it's gonna be two weeks
01:58by the time you make it home.
02:00Do you have a hard time sometimes realizing
02:03where you are and which room you're in?
02:05Yeah, it's brutal.
02:08Every once in a while, I will go to the wrong room,
02:13and I'll go to the previous hotel's room number.
02:15So that does happen occasionally.
02:19This has been a particularly long trip.
02:21You know, it's so strange to have so many days off
02:25on a road trip.
02:26You really wanna just kinda play every other day and get home,
02:30but we've had a lot of days off on this trip,
02:33and nice that it's finally coming to an end tomorrow night.
02:38It'll be great to get back to the Bay.
02:39Yeah, as we said, there's so much to celebrate
02:41about last night.
02:42We wanna get to all of it.
02:43I do, though, on that subject, wanna ask you
02:46how do you think the team is handling it,
02:49and what is the level of preparation
02:52to handle what's coming next,
02:54which is two tough opponents back-to-back
02:57with a trip home in between.
02:59Like, what's their readiness for this?
03:02Oh, we're in full playoff mode right now.
03:05You know, the game plans are much more detailed
03:08and specific.
03:10You know, we look at every game now as a playoff game
03:13because we wanna avoid, you know, that 7-8 slot,
03:16and everybody we're playing, it seems like,
03:19is in a similar spot,
03:21and so these games are really intense.
03:23So I've been sitting in my room
03:27watching Laker tape the last couple hours,
03:29so this is what it's about right now.
03:33It's fun.
03:34Ian, before we get too much into the Lakers tomorrow,
03:37let's talk about Memphis last night and Steph Curry,
03:39and maybe the Grizzlies didn't game plan for him
03:42as much as they should have,
03:4352 points for the chef and 12 threes.
03:46You got to see another one of these
03:48unbelievable performances from Steph.
03:51I'm not gonna ask you if it ever gets old
03:53because it doesn't, but watching him last night in that spot,
03:57what did you think about that first half especially?
04:01It was just spectacular.
04:04You know, we've seen Steph do it so many times
04:08that it never surprises us,
04:10and especially when it's needed the most.
04:13In a crucial game, he was just electric from the start,
04:18and he just, he took it upon himself
04:24to take away some of what teams have been doing
04:29with just swarming him, trying to pick him up full,
04:33getting on top of him.
04:36So he was very specific, getting the ball early.
04:39We tried to give him screens early to free him up,
04:42and he was just brilliant.
04:43I mean, he just, he's 37 years old
04:45and still moving like that and preparing like that,
04:49shooting like that, it's just incredible to watch.
04:51Steve, was that the most gratifying win of the year?
04:55It's right up there for sure.
04:57You know, we've had a handful of them
04:59that have been very gratifying,
05:00but that was as good as it gets, you know,
05:03on the road against a team that's really good
05:06but struggling a little bit and desperate,
05:09knowing they were gonna come out
05:11and play with a lot of force.
05:13Yeah, that was a big time win,
05:14and now we gotta get right back at it tomorrow
05:17against a team, again, that we're, you know,
05:20right next to in the standings
05:22and couldn't face in the playoffs.
05:24You just, you know, you gotta be ready
05:26for all of these games now.
05:27I'm fascinated by what you said,
05:29well, like we're in playoff mode,
05:31and therefore the game planning is more detailed.
05:35Take us through that, and does that mean
05:38that you lean on the stars a little bit more,
05:41more minutes, more points, all of those things?
05:45Yeah, like last night, for example,
05:47you know, we brought Steph and Draymond back in
05:50for the last 40 seconds of the first quarter to close.
05:54That's normally a time when they rest, you know,
05:57and like a playoff game, you know,
06:00those two for one at the end of the quarter
06:02is a really big deal,
06:04and it's time to do that.
06:06I don't think you do that for 82 games
06:08or you burn these guys out,
06:10and, but they know when it's time,
06:13and it's time right now,
06:14and so a few extra minutes, you know,
06:17a little more situational substitutions,
06:21and then more than anything, you know,
06:23game plan specific, you know,
06:25you're gonna throw a lot at the other team
06:27more than you would in the middle of the season
06:29just because you've gotta, you know,
06:32you gotta get every edge you possibly can,
06:35and again, in the 82-game season,
06:38if you tried to approach every game like that,
06:41you would just wear your guys out,
06:42so you kinda have to get through the season,
06:46navigate it, and turn it up when you can.
06:48And it is time to turn it up,
06:50and, you know, you look at the minutes,
06:51and Jimmy played 38 or more,
06:54and Steph played a bunch,
06:55and one thing we've been talking about, Coach,
06:57is the idea of Steph Curry and calls
07:00and getting free throws,
07:01and Mark and I have had a fierce debate
07:03about how to go about it.
07:04I wanna ask you, with the way Steph
07:07gets so much physicality,
07:09and he doesn't seem to get the whistle
07:10that other stars get,
07:12how do you as a coach and Steph as a player
07:14go about trying to get more calls
07:17than he probably deserves?
07:19Well, I heard you guys talking when I first came on
07:22about, you know, his complaining work.
07:25Trust me, it does not,
07:26because I've been trying that for 10 years.
07:28It has not helped at all.
07:32I just think Steph is a very different player
07:34than all the other stars in the league.
07:38He's the only one, the only star
07:41who plays off the ball as much as he does,
07:43and he's the only guy who faces,
07:46you know, the kind of face guarding,
07:47and we call it top-locking defense.
07:50And I think what happens sometimes
07:53is the officials just aren't used to making that call
07:57where he's being held and grabbed away from the basket.
07:59To me, those should be automatic fouls.
08:01It's, you know, the league makes a point
08:04of talking about freedom of movement,
08:06but let's face it, most of the league plays pick and roll,
08:09and so they're used to guarding pick and roll,
08:12or calling pick and roll fouls,
08:14and seeing that kind of action.
08:17I don't think our officials are as used
08:19to seeing off-ball stuff,
08:21and that's, honestly, that's my biggest complaint
08:24when I, you know, when I'm talking to the refs
08:26or when we send clips into the league,
08:28it's almost always about off-ball holding of stuff
08:31because that's supposed to be a foul.
08:33Okay, wait, so, Coach, if complaining doesn't work,
08:36then why do so many people do it?
08:39Because we're human.
08:40Yeah.
08:41And we're competitive, you know?
08:43And I think, you know, you have to try
08:45to work the officials a little bit.
08:46You do it in a somewhat dignified manner, hopefully,
08:51in a civil manner, at least.
08:53And, you know, I was pretty animated last night,
08:56but kept it together, and, you know,
08:58didn't get any technicals, which was important,
09:01but, yeah, it's just, I mean,
09:03this is the highest level of competition in the world,
09:05and we're all desperate to win,
09:07and those guys have a brutal job, those refs,
09:10so it's, man, it's not an easy situation for anybody.
09:14What's your experience with working officials
09:17as a coach versus as a player?
09:19In other words, I would imagine referees
09:22are sort of expecting it from the coach,
09:24but maybe not necessarily from each player.
09:28So does it work better from one position or the other?
09:33I think it's more the coach's job to lobby.
09:36You know, the players are gonna complain a lot,
09:39but they've gotta move on to the next play,
09:41and, I mean, I wasn't good enough to complain to the refs
09:44when I was a player, honestly.
09:46I mean, the only time I ever complained
09:48was if somebody hit me on the hand when I took a jump shot,
09:51because that was how I made my living,
09:54and that's what I told the refs.
09:55I said, if you guys let these guys foul me on the jump shot,
09:58then I won't have a job,
10:00and that was about the only thing I could say to them, though.
10:03Nice, pulling on the heartstrings right there.
10:05That's right.
10:06Playing the unemployment card.
10:07I mean, guys, if I can't get that call,
10:09I mean, what am I even doing out here?
10:12Steph admitted that he was kind of hunting
10:14that three-point record in the fourth quarter
10:16when he came back in,
10:18and he said the first couple were heat-check threes.
10:21Were you aware of it, and what did you say to him
10:24when he came back to the bench?
10:26Nothing.
10:27I wasn't aware of the record.
10:29I'm never aware of that stuff.
10:30I'm just watching the game and focused on everything else.
10:34I'm used to Steph hunting shots,
10:37so I didn't bat an eye when he took those two shots.
10:42I know he talked about them afterwards,
10:43but Steph has free reign,
10:47a free license to shoot any shot he wants,
10:49and that's the way it's always gonna be,
10:53and that means he's gonna take some bad ones,
10:55and I'm okay with that because in the totality of it,
11:00you know, that's part of what makes him who he is,
11:02the audacity, the aggressiveness,
11:05the ability to get hot with one shot.
11:09So he's gonna take a few bad ones, and I don't mind at all.
11:12Steve Kerr with us, as he is every week,
11:14spoiler and dibs, 95-7 the game.
11:15How's Jonathan Kaminga doing?
11:19I think he's doing okay.
11:20We had a day off today,
11:22so we'll find out from our training staff tomorrow
11:26whether he's ready to go or not.
11:28It sounded like you said,
11:29like from what you said pregame last night,
11:32it sounded like you're leaning
11:33toward expecting him to play.
11:35Is that true?
11:36Well, I'm hopeful, but I don't know at this point.
11:39It's really day to day.
11:41And when he does come back,
11:43are we gonna be expecting to see
11:45kind of what we did last night,
11:46which is a shortened rotation?
11:48You ended up only playing eight, kind of, and a half guys.
11:52Looney got just about 10 minutes.
11:54Is Kaminga gonna be back in there full on
11:57when he comes back,
11:58and would you expect your rotation
11:59to start to shrink down a little bit
12:01as we play these pseudo playoff games?
12:04Well, remember, we were without J.K. and Gary last night,
12:08and so those are two guys who are used to playing,
12:1220 plus minutes.
12:13So it was perfectly normal
12:16for their rotation to shrink last night.
12:18And what I've learned is every game is different,
12:21and you just take it game by game.
12:24And the good thing right now is that
12:26everybody on our team is really playing their roles well.
12:30They're just, they're competing like crazy.
12:33I thought we won so many battles last night.
12:35When I say that, what I mean is,
12:39who's gonna scrap out the loose ball?
12:41Who's gonna get the long rebound?
12:43We won the possession battle by a big margin last night.
12:47I think we had seven more offensive boards than they did,
12:51six fewer turnovers.
12:53That's where a guy like Keith Santos is so important.
12:56You know, you look at the box score,
12:57and it doesn't look like much,
12:59but I think he had four assists last night.
13:02He had three or four offensive boards.
13:04Every time he catches the ball,
13:05he's looking for Steph Curry,
13:07or looking to set a screen for him.
13:10The game has just clicked with our guys lately.
13:14That's why we're winning games.
13:15And everyone's just doing whatever it takes to win,
13:19whatever it takes for the team to function well.
13:22And I think Jimmy's presence has allowed
13:25for those roles to really clarify.
13:27And that's why so many guys are playing well
13:30individually right now, like Moses,
13:32and like BP, and Dee, and Quentin.
13:35And that's what's been fun to watch
13:38over the last six weeks.
13:41It's been a sweet change for Jimmy.
13:42Oh, Coach, you can tell everyone's playing their role,
13:44especially Kevon Looney,
13:45your new corner, spot-up, three-point shooter.
13:49The fact that he now has two games in a row with a three,
13:53I can only imagine you've spent the day
13:54drawing up plays for him.
13:58Exactly.
13:59That was so great last night.
14:01You know, he hit the corner run against San Antonio
14:04that we drew up just for fun.
14:07I mean, he practices his three all the time,
14:09and it was a game where we had some separation,
14:13and so we drew it up.
14:14But you know, you just never know
14:16when you need to make a three,
14:18and it just happened the very next night.
14:21You know, he's got an important one,
14:23and he knocked it down.
14:24But typical Looney, just finds ways to help us win.
14:27He's just an amazing role player,
14:29and he has been for 10 years.
14:31Pretty fun to watch just a shot clock buzzer beater.
14:34He drifts out, he drills the three,
14:36and you appeared to turn to the bench and yell something.
14:39What did you yell to the team there, Steve?
14:42I just slapped him, I slapped five with Loon,
14:45and I just yelled, hell yeah.
14:46That was fun to watch.
14:47So, you know, and then they threw it down,
14:50and Kennard hit a three, right, like two seconds later.
14:52So the celebration was kind of muted.
14:54You give and you take and you move on, yeah.
14:59Steve Kerr with us here, Willard and Dibbs.
15:01Coach, like, my sense is, right,
15:05you guys have such a healthy belief in yourself.
15:08I think for a lot of fans, they looked at this week,
15:11with all the Western Conference playoff teams
15:14on the schedule, as a measuring stick.
15:17Do you, did anything get, like,
15:19sort of proven to you last night?
15:23I think that was validation of how we've been playing,
15:27and how we feel about ourselves, you know,
15:29to go on the road and win a tough game like that.
15:32But the beauty of this time of year,
15:34as you head into the playoffs,
15:35is you have to do it night after night,
15:38and that's what the best teams do.
15:40So I'm excited about, you know, the last seven games,
15:44you know, with so much on the line,
15:48just to see if, you know, can we keep this up?
15:50Can we keep playing at a high level?
15:52I, shots are gonna go, shots maybe won't go,
15:55and that changes from night to night.
15:57But, you know, can we play with that kind of energy?
16:00Can we win those battles?
16:02Can we take care of the ball?
16:03Can we, you know, get all the loose balls,
16:06and play with energy, play together?
16:08That's what makes it really fun as a basketball coach,
16:11when you see your team functioning in that manner,
16:14and that's what has me so excited
16:15about these guys right now.
16:17Well, I'm just gonna ask you the question you just asked,
16:19and that's, can you, tomorrow against the Lakers?
16:22Can you go into L.A. after two weeks on the road,
16:25game six of a road trip against Luka and LeBron,
16:29and summon the energy and the effort?
16:30What about tomorrow concerns you the most
16:33about taking on the Lakers?
16:36Well, of course we can.
16:37I mean, you're talking about a group of guys,
16:42you know, some of whom have, you know, four championships.
16:46So, they can beat anybody on any night,
16:49and as good as the Lakers are,
16:51I think we're going into tomorrow
16:52with a lot of confidence, a lot of belief.
16:55Lakers are loaded.
16:57I think J.J. has done an amazing job.
17:00They're really well put together.
17:02The roster makes sense.
17:03I think the moves they made in the middle of the season,
17:05obviously getting Luka was a steal,
17:08but, you know, Finney Smith,
17:10just a huge addition to their team,
17:13and, you know, watching them on tape, they're tough.
17:17They're really good, but it sets up to be a great matchup,
17:21and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
17:23Yeah, what is the scouting report there?
17:25Because it feels like in recent years,
17:27Anthony Davis has been a real struggle for you guys
17:30to match up with on the interior,
17:33and now it's Luka, which is obviously no picnic,
17:36but is the matchup different for you guys now?
17:41It is.
17:42It is definitely different,
17:44but, you know, the Constants, you know,
17:46are LeBron and Austin Reeves,
17:49been there for a few years now,
17:51and a great player in his own right.
17:54So, you know, it's a different team now,
17:57but it's a really, really successful team,
18:00well put together, well coached, as I said,
18:02and they've got a formula,
18:05they've got a style that's different
18:08than the one they had with Davis,
18:10but like I said, very effective,
18:12so we gotta be prepared and ready.
18:14Without Gary and maybe without JK,
18:16although hopefully he's able to return defensively,
18:19how do you match up to try to slow LeBron and Luka Doncic?
18:24Well, you lean on your, you know,
18:26your guys who are used to covering those type of players.
18:29So, you know, one of the things I'm really pleased about
18:32with Moses this year is, you know,
18:35especially since the trade is he's taking on that role.
18:38He's doing what Wiggs did, you know, for us for many years.
18:41He's guarding the toughest guy,
18:43so sure he'll be on Luka and LeBron some tomorrow night,
18:47and you lean on Jimmy and Draymond
18:51because they are, you know, physical
18:53and capable of standing up to those guys,
18:56and then you, you know, you mix and match.
18:59Maybe you, you know, you change up your coverages,
19:01you try to keep them off balance a little bit,
19:03and it's definitely gonna be a night
19:06where, you know, we gotta be ready
19:08to throw a lot of things at them
19:09because these guys are so good.
19:11Coach, you said something a couple answers ago
19:13about like certain nights shots will fall,
19:15certain nights they won't.
19:16We've got all these stats here that say,
19:18especially role players,
19:21they have a harder time in road games,
19:25especially down the stretch of a season,
19:27and because you were, you were an outside shooting
19:30role player, what is it?
19:32Like, what is it, the home versus road thing
19:35in your experience, especially for role players?
19:39I wish I knew.
19:40I mean, I don't know.
19:42Is there actually data that shows that to be the case?
19:44Well, I think especially in your case right now,
19:49we've got some, you know, some numbers
19:51over the last handful of weeks
19:54that the Moody's and the Pods and the Gee's
19:57and the, you know, Quentin Posts of the world,
20:00yeah, their numbers are much more effective
20:03from the outside at home,
20:05and I just also feel like I see that around the league, too.
20:10I mean, it's definitely kind of been a thing
20:12for years in the NBA.
20:13You know, especially in playoff games,
20:15it seems like, you know, the role players at home
20:19just seem to be a little more comfortable.
20:22You know, I think when you go on the road,
20:25everything's going against you,
20:27the emotion of the crowd, all that stuff,
20:29the pressure, and that's when your stars
20:31really tend to take over.
20:33Saw that last night with Steph and Jimmy and Draymond,
20:36so it might be more related to just the fact
20:39that the stars are dominating and really taking over,
20:43and they're taking on more ownership
20:45than it is, you know, the role players struggling.
20:47I hate to do it, Steve, but, you know,
20:49my producer, the director of sports,
20:52Lucas Alexander, wrote it on our question sheet.
20:54What did you and Mike Dunleavy bet
20:56on the Arizona-Duke game where, checks notes,
20:59I do believe that Duke came out on top.
21:03What's the payoff?
21:05Is it you having to dress as the Blue Devil mascot?
21:08What did you end up losing to Mike in that tough, tough loss?
21:12Yeah, I'm not losing my dignity, guys.
21:14I'm just losing dinner.
21:16That's it.
21:17Okay, all right.
21:18We just bet dinner, which is, you know, that's an easy one.
21:21We like each other a lot, so having dinner together is fun,
21:25and I kind of knew I was gonna buy, you know,
21:28but that's all right.
21:30I owe Mike for everything he's done for this team this year
21:34and the job he's done.
21:36If buying dinner based on the Arizona-Duke game
21:39is my payment to him for the roster he's put together,
21:42I think that's a small price to pay.
21:44Yeah, he got you butler, coach.
21:46Come on.
21:47Hell yeah, he did.
21:48He drafted pods and he drafted QP.
21:52I mean, this guy is big time at his job,
21:55and it's been really fun.
21:57You know, I was so blessed with Bob Myers all those years.
21:59We had an amazing partnership,
22:01and I feel the same way about Mike.
22:03Mike is just not only great at his job,
22:06but an awesome partner,
22:08and I look forward to my conversations with him
22:10just to talk about our team every single day,
22:13so he's been fantastic.
22:15What does he like to eat?
22:17Where are you taking him?
22:19I don't know.
22:20We'll see.
22:21We haven't made that decision,
22:22but wives are included,
22:24so this is gonna be more of a date night, couple's night.
22:29Okay, okay.
22:30Based on what he's done in the draft and at the deadline,
22:33probably soup and salad for the Dunleavy's.
22:36Oh yeah.
22:38Anything they want at this dinner, for sure.
22:40Well, Coach, I'm sure you guys are done
22:43living out of the suitcase and everything.
22:46Do you have any feelings about
22:49when this huge road trip ends,
22:52that you have to turn right around
22:53and play the Denver Nuggets the very next night?
22:57Yeah, not ideal, but this is the NBA.
23:01I mean, last night, Memphis,
23:05we were in Memphis the night before resting.
23:08They had to play the Celtics.
23:10And granted, the travel wasn't as bad,
23:13but every team's got these schedule quirks that are tricky,
23:19and some nights it works in your favor,
23:20some nights it doesn't.
23:21So I'm not complaining.
23:23It is what it is, and we'll be ready to go.
23:25Yeah, and I don't know if you heard,
23:26but Jokic will not play tonight
23:29after his 61-10-10 last night.
23:32He's trying to rest up for you guys, Steve,
23:34just as an FYI.
23:36Well, he deserves a rest.
23:38We watched the end of that game on the plane,
23:41and man, what a performance.
23:44You know what I was thinking, guys,
23:45watching Steph last night, watching Jokic,
23:48if these types of games had happened 10 years ago,
23:53honestly, I think NBA fans would have been
23:56absolutely losing their minds.
23:58And I think what's happened is
24:00the players have gotten so skilled,
24:02and they're doing such amazing things,
24:04and I think our game is being taken for granted right now.
24:08What these guys are doing is so spectacular.
24:12I never could have survived the NBA.
24:16If I were playing today, I couldn't have survived.
24:17These guys are so talented, they're so good,
24:20and it's like, I don't know, you read these articles,
24:23like, yeah, the NBA product isn't that great.
24:25Are you kidding me?
24:26You looking at these guys?
24:28They're just spectacular,
24:30and they've never been more skilled,
24:31and I'm just blown away by what I see night after night.
24:34Well, Steve, if it makes you feel any better,
24:37in the second quarter last night, I went to Twitter,
24:40and I know you're not there, so you didn't see it,
24:42but I wrote, Steph Curry is not a human being.
24:45There's just no, there's no way.
24:47So there is some appreciation out there
24:51for these performances, which to me, on some level,
24:54they don't even make any sense.
24:56No, they don't, and Jokic, same way, Lucas, same way.
25:01LeBron's 40 years old.
25:02I mean, I watched him, I was watching their game
25:05against Houston from two nights ago, you know, to prepare,
25:11and there was like two seconds on the shot clock,
25:13and he shot a 35-foot runner,
25:15just like, just nonchalantly from the left wing,
25:20just off one foot, switch, and I'm like,
25:23are you kidding me?
25:24Like, I mean, and we don't even bat an eye anymore
25:28because this is just commonplace.
25:31These guys are so skilled, so talented.
25:33They're doing it every night, and like I said,
25:36I think everybody's kind of taking it for granted.
25:39It's just incredible what's happening.
25:42Did you see the end of that Bulls-Lakers game
25:44last Thursday night?
25:45I sure did.
25:46I sure did, those last 20 seconds.
25:49I mean.
25:49Maybe the craziest I've ever seen in a basketball game.
25:52Yeah, it's incredible.
25:54All right, coach, good luck tomorrow night,
25:58and man, we really look forward to lighting up Chase Center
26:01on Friday night with you guys back in town.
26:05It's gonna be fun.
26:06Okay, coach, thanks so much.
26:08All right, see you later.