Why Perk views ’22-23 Dubs as Kerr’s ‘biggest challenge’ yet originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is no stranger to adversity during his time with Golden State.
From the ups and downs of the Kevin Durant era to a last-place finish in the Western Conference just a couple of years ago, there have been plenty of bumps in the road along with the championship trophies.
But ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins argues that the 2022-23 NBA season is Kerr’s toughest task yet for several reasons.
“This team that the Golden State Warriors have, this is going to be the biggest challenge of Steve Kerr’s coaching career,” Perkins said Thursday on “First Take.”
There were already a variety of things for Kerr to consider this season, fresh off the Warriors’ fourth NBA title in eight seasons. And when Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole before the first game could even get underway, it didn’t make things any easier.
“Now you have to regain their trust, and now you have to get back that chemistry,” Perkins said. “But let’s just think about everything else that’s going on with their team at the moment.”
In addition to the punch saga, Perkins pointed to Klay Thompson’s ongoing return to form after coming back in January from two lower leg injuries.
Thompson’s incredible comeback down the stretch last season and into the playoffs helped Golden State earn another ring, though he has gotten off to a slow start this season. As Thompson gets his feet back underneath him, as Kerr describes it, the coach said his star sharpshooter likely won’t play in the second game of back-to-backs this season.
That being said, Thompson sat out against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday after a season-best shooting performance in Thursday’s loss to the Orlando Magic.
“You got Klay, who’s still trying to find himself and get back to the Klay of old, who we’ve seen flashes, but it hasn’t been consistent,” Perkins said. “Right? And his minutes have been down.”
On top of Kerr trying to properly manage Thompson’s minutes, Perkins is worried about how Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins might start to view their roles after signing massive contract extensions this offseason.
“Now all of a sudden, you have Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, guys that played a huge role as far as them winning the championship last year,” Perkins said. “… So now you have those two guys in particular, right? That got contract extensions, got huge deals, and now all of a sudden they come back off of winning their first championship, and let me tell you what happens with young guys like that.
“They know that they were part of the reason that they won, and so when you get back in the locker room, you have to get them back to the roots of actually embracing and being that same player that they [were] last year, because now they actually want a bigger role.”
Behind Steph Curry’s average of 34.9 minutes per game this season, Wiggins and Poole have seen the most time on the court with averages of 33.3 and 29.6 minutes, respectively.
The duo certainly earned bigger roles with their play last season. But as Golden State fell to five straight losses Friday, Steve Kerr hinted that changes to the team’s rotation are on the way.
That leads into Perkins’ final point: Kerr’s challenge of developing the Warriors’ young players while finding ways to win.
“Now you think about others on the squad: Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman, Moses Moody,” Perkins said. “You think about those young three guys and how now all of a sudden Steve Kerr [has to] start putting those guys into the rotation a little bit, because all three of those guys were lottery picks.
“Now all of a sudden you need to see the development. You need to see what you’re going to get out of those guys. You need to start putting them in game situations where they’re in the game, you know, late in the fourth quarter.”
The young guys got a huge chance to prove their worth Friday night against the Pelicans as Curry, Thompson, Green and Wiggins rested on the bench. Kerr said Kuminga earned more minutes moving forward after his 18-point night, while Moody finished with a team-high plus/minus rating of plus-10.
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Wiseman picked up six boards in the loss and still has plenty of growth ahead of him, though Kerr recently said he’s still a “believer” in the 21-year-old’s talent.
As Perkins said, there are a lot of things on Kerr’s plate this season, aside from attempting to do one of the most difficult things in all of sports: win back-to-back championships.
“[There’s] only one basketball, so at the end of the day, you only can get a certain amount of shots throughout the course of the game,” Perkins said. “Everybody’s not going to be satisfied.
“So now Steve Kerr, he [has] got to get on his best stuff.”
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