Steve Kerr’s Absence: The True Test Of A Leader How can an NBA be both essential and unnecessary? ’s absence during the NBA playoffs has presented a challenging, but revealing question. by CHRIS BALLARD / / May 29, 2017 Advisers need Instead of a suit, Steve Kerr wore a baggy gray told me recently. And, indeed, the Warriors sweatshirt, the kind your dad might throw on are deep, cohesive, and possess an almost-tele- to know their to clean the garage. Rather than stand, he sat pathic chemistry, especially on defense, where core values off to the side of the room, an observer in his five players often move as one, performing an Commentary by Jack own realm. Still, he was back at a Warriors intricate dance of switches and rotations on Kennedy: As I was reading game on Sunday for the first time in weeks, each play. There is some truth to the idea that this article in a recent Sports watching the opener of the Western Confer- you could take someone from the local YMCA Illustrated, I initially admired ence finals from the Golden State locker room noon run, install him or her as Warriors coach, the organization and and briefly addressing the players at halftime, and the team still might win the title (so long transparent transitions (so a man unable to stalk the sideline but willing as our noon baller knew well enough to stay simple, yet so useful). to settle for proximity. It’s now been almost the hell out of the way). As such, Golden State a month since Kerr left to deal with ongoing represents the closest thing the NBA has to a But I soon realized what I complications from 2015 back surgery and, self-driving car. was really reading was a while team officials are optimistic he will coach short course on how to be again at some , he remains out indefinite- Then again, at the risk of taking the automotive a terrific media adviser (a ly. analogy too far, someone has to design and terrific teacher generally?), maintain the car. Which leads us to the idea and that the lessons/wisdom One element of his absence is worth dwelling that… found herein might be useful on, though. Here is a man who owns one of the to a novice adviser (why wait highest winning percentages in league history, 2. Kerr Possesses Some Super Secret Coach- for years of experience to who has been named NBA Coach of the Year, ing Sauce learn some of these truths?). and who has become so popular that there is Ten years ago, he coached a team almost as They might also be useful for a movement—increasingly less facetious—for mighty as Golden State. It rarely lost, despite a veteran adviser looking for him to run for office. In theory, the Warriors holding practices at the local LA Fitness, start- some way to recharge. should be lost without him. And yet, they lit- ing no one over 6’3”, and suiting up only six erally have not lost without him. Without Kerr, players, seven if they could grab someone at the Look for my assorted Golden State finished off Portland, swept Utah, last minute. comments in the outside and, most recently, pulled out Sunday’s 113-111 rails of these pages. comeback win over the Spurs. These were the San Diego Wildcats, starring Nick Kerr and his seventh grade buddies. Steve Which means that over the span of two sea- sprung the boys from last period every after- sons, and a pair of interim coaches—first Luke noon for “independent PE” (AKA practice). In Walton and now Mike Brown—Golden State is addition to two-on-two drills, Kerr delighted in now 46-4 without Kerr. installing a few old favorites, including “Blind Pig” from the Bulls’ (the big The emphasis is mine, How are we supposed to make sense of this? man comes to the high post, with the option but feel free to sub in the How can a coach be both essential and unnec- for a “blind” backdoor pass to a cutter). word “adviser” whenever you essary? see “coach.” Kerr’s demeanor with the Wildcats, he told me, Let us investigate the possible theories and was “basically the same as now,” which seems clues, starting with … unlikely considering the difference between 12-year-olds and NBA players. But Nick, who is It’s tough to be a great 1. The Obvious Reason(s) now 24 and has shadowed the Warriors the last adviser with no talent to Also known as Steph Curry, , two postseasons, provides the same assessment. work with, but you might be , , and Klay “Honestly, he was exactly like today,” Nick says. surprised by the untapped Thompson. “Everyone who gets into coaching “Pretty relaxed, didn’t really yell.” Nick thinks potential that you run into. in the NBA knows it’s all about the talent,” Kerr for a moment. “Well, one time we came out really flat and weren’t trying very hard and he moment the players see you making it about It may be a combination slammed his clipboard and it broke so, yeah, you, not the team—when the coach gets the en- of mind game and genuine that wasn’t the first clipboard he broke in the dorsements and poses for magazine covers and humility, but advisers who Finals last year.” hosts a radio show—you lose them. Of course, abstain from referring to the Kerr and Pop go about this in very different media they advise as “my The seventh graders remain Kerr’s only coach- ways. Pop keeps the media at bay by acting like paper” or “my yearbook” ing experience prior to the Warriors. Which a pissed-off professor, forever so, so disap- are establishing a team suggests that perhaps he’s just a natural. Indeed, pointed in his students, while Kerr performs atmosphere, a feeling of “we Mike Brown describes Steve possessing “this something closer to a comedy routine, reliably are in this together.” aura of success” in which “everything he touch- casting himself as the foil. es turns to gold,” as if Kerr were the pied piper of the W’s. It makes sense. Five rings as a player Their message is the same, though: It’s not We are early in the and one as a coach. Retired as the NBA leader about me. Which leads us to… article, but you are already in three-point percentage. Killed it as a TNT seeing the transparent analyst. 5. The Guy On The Street transitions. Students often The second time Kerr and I talked was four struggle with these, laboring Normally, a man this successful would be weeks ago, a Monday afternoon. It happened to find just the right phrase. easy—maybe even fun—to dislike. Getting to to be roughly the day his symptoms began But usually the transition play with MJ and coach Steph? And yet… worsening. Headaches. Neck pain. He reflexive- needed is simply repeating ly rubbed his forehead and opened and closed a key phrase, and clearly 3. Pretty Much Everyone Loves Steve his jaw, like someone trying to de-pressurize on signaling to the reader Coaches like him. Players like him. The media an airplane descent. The same stuff he’s dealt where you are going with would clone him if possible, so that he might with since the two back surgeries—a nicked the story. run every press conference for every team in spinal cord, a leak, confounding symptoms— every sport, reliably dispensing anecdotes and were now exacerbated and subtly different. Yet, This section approach is one-liners and big-picture context. When I being Kerr, he still ran practice that morning particularly useful when you ask his peers if they’ve ever met someone who and wasn’t about to bail on our lunch interview. don’t have a clear narrative, doesn’t like Kerr, they profess to be stumped, with a chronological arc to though , the Warriors’ philosoph- We walked west through downtown Oakland, work with. Every section in ically-inclined assistant, says, “But wouldn’t toward his favorite Vietnamese place. For years, this article represents one it be interesting to find someone who did?” Kerr looked as if he’d forever just returned piece of a large puzzle, and , the former Warriors forward and from the beach– blonde hair, trim, crinkles at they all work together, piling Kerr’s teammate at Arizona, is less ruminative. the eyes. Now there was something hard about on information. He just cracks up. “C’mon, is it possible not to him; he was all edges, angles, creases. Two What the organization does like Steve?” little boys approached, hoping for an auto- is provide information to graph. Kerr signed and posed for a photo. Then the reader AS IT IS NEEDED. But perhaps interim head coach Mike Brown a disheveled man across the street hollered This sort of “just in time” sums it up best. “Given all the success Steve’s “STEEEEVE!” Kerr said what he always says, reporting is valuable, much had, he could be an asshole and get away with what he would say later to the hotel security like “just in time teaching” it,” says Brown. “But he’s not.” guard and the street vendor: “Hey, man. What’s can serve you well. going on? How’s it going?” So, after filing that away as Steve Kerr’s First Boldface Leadership Secret—Don’t Be An Ass- The man hurried over, holding a pock-marked hole—let us examine the potential reasons … canvas, and related a tale of woe. Temporary homelessness. A run-in with the police. Kerr The best advisers are 4. A Tip From Pop listened, nodding and asking questions—“Did generous, listening more When Kerr and I first discussed this story you paint that? It’s cool.” Then he said “Good than speaking, but always five weeks ago, before his health worsened, he luck to you,” and handed the man $20 for art aware of people around had one condition: Only one photo. He un- supplies. them that help them do derstood we’d need to use one—“me standing their jobs. I’m thinking of there, pointing during a game or whatever”— Later, while discussing leadership at lunch, custodians and secretaries, but could we please leave it at that? (Editor’s Kerr said the people that he admires most are bookkeepers and subs. Yes, note: We did.) It’s something he learned from the ones like Steph Curry and every kid deserves attention, Popovich, during his time in San Antonio. The who possess “this amazing combination of total but so do our co-workers. belief in themselves and their ability and talent then the team’s . yet have a genuine modesty and awareness of Pop was firm. “We gotta go under.” how lucky they are.” He paused. “Look at that guy who came up to us on the street. Think And then, as Kerr remembers it, Johnson about the life that guy’s had, you know?” slammed his fist on the table and shouted. “YOU DON’T SEE WHAT WE SEE OUT For Kerr, seeing the big picture is paramount. THERE!” “[Some people] are just so tunnel vision all the time and just go go go and, ‘I’m going to suc- Kerr was blown away. “It was a good reminder ceed and kick ass in life’ and they just trample to me because this is Pop, one of the best in over everyone. The people to me who are the the world at his business, and his point guard most powerful leaders are the ones who have is like, ‘You don’t see what we see.’” He con- great talent in whatever their field is, great con- tinues. “On the sideline we can see something viction in their ability to teach it and act it, but unfold but we can’t feel the speed with which an awareness and a humility and compassion it unfolds. Players might have a better call for a for others.” certain coverage based on the speed and their reaction abilities and the personnel we’re going Great advisers need to Later, when I talk to Nick U’Ren, the War- against.” know they can get the job riors special assistant who’s known Kerr for done, and can help their a decade, he brings up the Duncan-Curry By now the Warriors expect it. “It keeps me on students succeed. But they thing. “You know how Steve always talks about my toes,” says Iguodala, who appreciates Kerr’s also know that better ideas Steph having that combination of humility and interest. “If he asks, I have to know what I’m are out there, and that confidenceand how that’s a recipe for leader- talking about. I just can’t throw anything out refusing to change or listen ship?” U’Ren laughs. “Steve’s got the exact same t h e re .” to even wacky ideas soon thing.” leads to stagnation. Same goes for staffers. Some, like assistant Which may be true but is also precisely the coach Bruce Fraser, think Kerr occasional- type of credit Steve doesn’t want. So let’s get ly considers too many opinions—“I have to back to the Warriors and how… remind him that, at the end of the day, he’s the smartest guy in the room”—but then again, A lot of teachers and 6. The Team is Out There Running the Show you never know when doing so will win you a administrators have When asked about Kerr’s approach, Warriors playoff series. trouble with this, wanting players invoke phrases like freedom, trust, and to create clear hierarchies he lets us be ourselves. Not just the stars but To this day, U’Rren remains surprised when and expecting the teacher/ bench guys. As reserve guard puts it: Kerr unexpectedly calls to solicit his opinions adviser to be overtly leading. “He kind of lets us coach ourselves.” (Which is on, say, the next day’s practice. “I’ll share my both true and not true, depending on how you thoughts and at the end I’ll be thinking, ‘That’s Something key: How DO you view coaching.) really freaking cool that he asks me.’” But then view coaching? How DO you U’Ren, a thoughtful sort, will break it down view advising? During film sessions, Kerr regularly asks for further. “I mean, I’m sure he does care what I input. Usually it’s a defensive question—say, think, but half of the value of doing this is the whether to trap the pick and roll—and usually feeling I have afterward. I love this guy because In the end, advisers Green speaks up first. Maybe someone else. he asked what I thought. So I always think to who consistently PRETEND Then Kerr calls on Iguodala because, “he has a myself, ‘Does he really care or is he just making to value their students look brilliant basketball mind but he’s reluctant to sure I feel valued?” exactly like advisers who s p e a k .” TRULY value them. In the end, U’Ren has decided, maybe it’s irrel- Kerr got the idea from an experience in San evant. Kerr could choose to ask him or choose You don’t have to bare your Antonio, late in his career. not to. soul. You do need to practice the habits you trust, and “We’re going to go under the screen,” Popovich 7. Kerr Is Fluent In Grinder to model the behavior of said during a team meeting. It’s easy to forget, in hindsight, Kerr’s path to valuing all students. this point. He only received a scholarship to “No, we gotta go over,” replied , the because the team was 4–24 the year before he arrived. “To be hon- my corner,” Barnes says, getting a little wistful. I’m not sure the term est, I brought him on the team assuming we’d “There are a lot of things I don’t want to say I “overcommunicating” is recruit over him the following season,” says overlooked but that maybe I took for granted used much in the classroom, , the longtime coach, now retired. after four years there.” but I think I did that with Adds Olson: “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone every great student I ever that’s made more of an impression on me than Kerr downplays the letters, but U’Ren says, “He worked with (and should Steve, knowing what he’s come from and what really works on them. They’re heartfelt.” They have done more of it). We he ended up being.” are also a connection to Kerr’s past. Despite his touched base all the time, demeanor, Kerr says he was, “incredibly shy” even though I was confident Neither was Kerr expected to succeed in the as a boy. “I needed basketball to bring it out of that he or she was going NBA, for how many slow-ish 6’3” shooting spe- me, being interviewed by the media, getting to be fine, was doing the cialists do? But after being drafted in the sec- more confident with myself, becoming a better interviews, thinking about ond round by the Cavs, Kerr ended up latching player,” he says. “I wasn’t a very confident kid story structure, etc. It’s a on to a succession of NBA teams in need of growing up. But I was a good writer and I mistake to stop paying marksmen. Though he hung around, he started read a lot so I had a lot of that communication serious attention to our best a total of 30 games in his career. inside me.” students, assuming they have it going on. His was a life on the margins. He might go a But here we go, once again, making this all week without playing, then enter a game in about Kerr, so let’s not forget… And I tried to share written a high-leverage situation, expected to hit a critiques with students, so big shot. So, as he related a few years back, he 8. JaVale McGee! they could think about them eventually began writing “FI” on the toes of I mean, just look at him, bounding and swat- later. his hightops. F--- it. That way, every time he ting and making people happy, his triplicate Nuggets fans remember looked down he’d see a reminder. You can only rat tails swinging like tiny, hairy metronomes. McGee as wasted potential, control so much. Let it fly. Who’s to thank for that reclamation project? Ig- but he is suddenly a key part uodala was the one who recommended signing of the Warriors. As such, Kerr relates to players like Clark, him, after a stint together in Denver. Assistant a backup on a one-year deal. If Kerr knows coach works with him. His One of the true joys of Clark won’t play on a given night, he’ll pull him teammates believe in him. And let’s not forget advising is finding some way aside. “Hey, we’re going with Patrick (McCaw) the men who actually signed JaVale … to help young people who tonight because of matchups, but it’s not a for- seemed confused, seemed ever thing” Kerr will say. “Don’t worry about it, 9. Bob & Jerry & Joe a bit down, and seemed to you’ll get your shot. Stay ready.” That’d be Myers, West, and Lacob, one NBA not quite fit in that there Executive of the Year, one living legend, and is a place for them. That Kerr says such conversations are a conscious one owner who may have earned himself the they could bring value and effort to overcommunicate”“ with the players. office nickname “Buzz Lightyear” but whose insights to the publication. Apparently, it works. Says Clark: “Being able track record is pretty darn impressive. Which to hear it from your coach, rather than it just suggests that perhaps all Kerr is doing is carry- Every adviser loves that happening and not knowing why, it’s different. ing out management’s larger plan, a conductor brilliant, committed, Your head is in a better place when you know steering a train on pre-existing tracks, with a passionate kid who just what’s going on.” fixed destination. seems to get it, without much pushing from us. But Other times, Kerr types and prints out letters to Except then he wouldn’t need to yell… there is no feeling quite like his players. In an age of texts, emails, and social helping the kid who was not media, it’s a way to not only break through but 10. “Hell No!” so blessed, not so motivated, to time-shift a conversation. The player can This, according to Draymond Green, is what not so sure of his or her place re-read it, digest it, sleep on it. “It was good,” Kerr shouts when he takes a three. Before in the world, and then seeing Iguodala says of the letter Kerr wrote him last games. In games. At the start of shootaround. that kid shine. year, when he was frustrated. “It’s a long season Green lines it up, is about to release and then, with ebbs and flows and Steve put things back from the sideline, he hears a gleeful voice… Those kids other teachers in perspective.” returned to “Hell No!” shake their heads about? Oakland last summer for Team USA camp Maybe they just need to find a thank-you letter from Kerr, wishing For Kerr, Green represents a unique coaching someone to find a place for him good luck. “Steve was always the guy in challenge, a player whose strengths are also his them. Schools spend so much weaknesses, whose basketball IQ exceeds that close as anybody on the team,” Green says of time and effort rewarding of many coaches, and who may be the War- his relationship with Kerr. “I mean, I can talk rule followers and “pleasers” riors’ most important player while definitely to Steve about anything,” he says. “We can go at that we can forget that those being their most volatile. A man who’s spent each other and know it’s never personal.” kids with an edge may be his life succeeding by challenging authority. what we really need for our He and Kerr have battled at times, never more Case in Point: When Kerr showed up before publications to sparkle. volubly than last season, when Green became practice last Friday and saw Green, the for- so angry at halftime of a game in Oklahoma ward was excited—“I was like, holy s---, coach But the Draymond Green City that arena security showed up. is here!” section here reminds me that we make a mistake when And yet Green says he now gets it, bringing Kerr? He grinned and said, “Oh, so now that we treat every student the up… I’m gone you start making all your threes.” same, just as we make a mistake when we treat each 11. That Game Against The Pelicans Which is as good a segue as any to… of our children the same. Last year, the Warriors were playing in . As Green tells it, in the first half Steph 12. Cocaine (Okay, Maybe Not Literally) People need different things, pulled up for “some crazy shot.” Then Klay did When Kerr was in college, a reporter asked Ar- at different times, and there the same thing. The lead slipped, from double izona players for their New Year’s resolutions. is no simple recipe for how to digits all the way down to one, at which point Kerr said he only had one: “To keep coach off grow a great person, a great Kerr called timeout. “And at that point,” says the cocaine next year.” citizen, a great leader. Green, “I’ve taken like one shot and have like, no turnovers. But [Steve] looks right at me and Lute Olson laughs at the memory. “Only Steve One kid needs TLC. Another goes, ‘What the f--- is wrong with you? Get could get away with that.” responds to toughness and your f------head in the game!” challenges. Another loves Friends get it just as bad. While recording au- your sarcasm, even as the kid Green was shocked. Kerr was yelling at him?!? dio for old editions of NBA Live video games, sitting nearby cringes. Kerr delighted whenever he got to provide “But he’s smart because he knows exactly what commentary for old teammates. Recalls Marv There is no one way to be a I’m going to do,” Green says. “I’m gonna get Albert, his partner both at TNT and for the great coach or adviser. But mad and then I’m going to yell at everyone else recordings, “He’d be like, “Oh no, what ridic- there ARE better ways! and get them going.” He pauses. “Now is that a ulous shot selection from !” Now tactic? Is it on purpose? I don’t know. It doesn’t when Albert arrives for the standard pre-game matter. It’s coaching is what it is. That’s coach- coach’s interview, Kerr makes sure to hang a ing. Sometimes I sit there afterward and think, dartboard with Marv’s face on it, often pre- ‘Damn, that motherf----- got me.’” tending to be in the middle of a game when he arrives. And because Kerr finds it hilarious that I’m not saying advising Green continues. “But he knows me. You Marv always opens broadcasts with an evoc- or teaching will ever be easy. couldn’t do that to someone else. He has a feel ative weather-related comment—“It’s a cold, This goal of giving each for it. That’s his thing.He has this feel for exact- windswept night here in Oklahoma City!”— student what she needs is ly what each player needs.” Kerr had a chart of adjectives made for Albert. tough, and we will inevitably Some are even printable. only get it right a part of the Which brings us back to Hell No. “He knows time. But simply being aware yelling that turns on something inside of me,” No event is too formal, or mundane, for a Kerr that the entire staff won’t says Green. “If he just said, ‘Don’t shoot that crack. Asked after a Finals loss in 2015 how understand after our brilliant shot, it’s not right for us,’ it wouldn’t work. much pressure was on the Warriors, on a scale lecture or from one reading (Kerr says his goal is to motivate Green be- of 1 to 10, he responded: “Five point one three.” or from a perfect PowerPoint cause, as he explains in an email, “he thrives may be enough to help us on people telling him he can’t do things, so I There is, of course, a rationale. To cut through help our students. yell that partly as a joke and partly because I the self-seriousness of sports. Speak the think it will motivate him. He’s at his best with time-tested male language of mockery (“Hell a chip on his shoulder and I’m trying to keep it no!”), and most important, keep his team there.”) loose. Rarely does a Warriors film session go by without Kerr splicing in some clip, from the So, where does that leave the two? “We’re as infamous Collins “Slow Break” to a snippet of Walton in “The Young and the Restless.” Last it doesn’t. But neither, strangely enough, was Coaches can do a lot, month, after Andre Iguodala decided video the question. In an era of political disenchant- but even the best eventually coordinator Luke Loucks bore a resemblance to ment, when people are looking for someone to come face-to-face with a certain gravel-voiced coach, Kerr cut in a seg- follow and the concept of “sticking to sports” is luck, with coincidence, with ment of photos titled “Luke or Thibs?” (Loucks becoming increasingly antiquated, Kerr stands events spinning out of their may never escape the Iguodala-bestowed nick- out. He has spoken out on gun control, immi- control. Just as one of the name “Lil’ Thibs”). gration, and race relations. You can now buy secrets to great comedy is “Popovich/Kerr 2020” t-shirts if you’d like (the self-deprecation, it is also But—and here would be Kerr’s Second Bold- proceeds go to charities, including the ACLU). one of the secrets to great face Rule—he saves his best material for advising. himself. To go back through his press clippings, Kerr understands speaking out could put the from college to the NBA to coaching, is to see team in a bind, as his views don’t necessarily It’s part of “holding on a master of self-deprecation at work. Here he reflect the organization. But, as he says, “On loosely” to control, or to is, as a young guard with the Cavs, boasting of the other hand, we should all speak our minds. the plan. If you never find guarding Jordan that, “I can hold Michael to 65 It’s an important time to do so. There’s a lot of yourself being surprised by on any given night.” bulls--- in the world. You got to call it out.” what students produce, by their approaches, or by their “The most important part of broadcasting,” Of course this is easier to do when your team insights, it may be that you says Albert, in explaining why Kerr transi- wins relentlessly, which brings us to the ques- are doing too much. Even tioned so well, “is showing the audience you tion of… the best advisers need to don’t take yourself too seriously.” (This is part step back and simply enjoy of what makes so good at the 14. What If Kerr Were In New York Right the experience (rather than job, and why Shaq struggled for so long). Now? directing each step along the way). Harrison Barnes thinks we might be surprised. Not all of Steve’s jokes land. Nick Kerr tells of “Guys respect winning and he’s played with the how his dad made a bunch of cracks during a best, coached the best, won rings,” says Barnes. team meeting the week before he took his leave “The biggest part of coaching is cultivating and none of the players laughed, which in turn the winning mentality. In practice, the locker caused the coaches to cackle. “He just sat there room, all the stuff that happens before you see and took it,” says Nick. “That’s how he is.” us at 7:30.” You don’t have to literally produce a word Is there some larger utility to all this? It’s reveal- Kerr appreciates the support but he’s not buy- cloud, but it’s not hard to do, ing to create word clouds from Kerr’s com- ing it. Nothing works without talent, and Kerr and you might be surprised. ments, whether they be at a press conference is emphatic that his success in Golden State is What are YOUR key themes? or in an interview. Take his commencement due to dozens of other factors, in particular What are the basics that you speech at the University of Arizona, in 2004. mentioning “Steph Curry’s joy” and Iguodala’s keep returning to? The terms that figure most prominently include sacrifice. team, family, coach, cultural differences, op- I will note that it is possible portunity, kids, and understanding. You’ll find And yet it’s worth noting that… to create an aspirational similar themes in his other speeches. list of key themes that will For contrast, try pulling up a word cloud of, 15. Kerr Didn’t Take The Knicks Job (And provide you with your goals. say, the current leader of the United States. That Alone Tells Us Something) That is, you may not have Just as he didn’t try to revamp the Warriors, or completely incorporated Which leads us to the fact that… rein in Steph, or make power plays, or create your key themes into your divides in the locker room, or any of the multi- teaching and advising (we all 13. Kerr Keeps Insisting That The World Is tude of other practices other coaches, including have some work to do), but Bigger Than Basketball his predecessor, , occasionally the fact that you have those This past March, when Kerr appeared on engage in. themes to review, to inspire, KQED, a public radio station, and to challenge is what’s the host, Michael Krasny, asked Kerr whether To the contrary, Kerr can sometimes seem important. he planned on running for office. like…

Kerr’s response—“It doesn’t sound like a lot 16. He’s A Fan Of Everybody of fun.”—was not surprising, because, well, Occasionally, says Adams, the assistants may I know we all say this, get down on a player and focus on his limita- “OK, joy,” said Carroll. “That has to be reflected but do we genuinely think tions. It’s human nature. But Kerr rarely does. in your practices every day.” there is something special At first, Adams was skeptical, but he’s come about each of our students? around. “He believes there’s something special And on they went. I’m not talking about about each one of these guys as humans and becoming some sort of players. And he works very diligently about Kerr calls the meeting “critical.” At the time, Teacher Saint, but to keep fostering that in each individual. And this isn’t he was two months from starting with the looking for something in some pie in the sky thing. Sometimes we’ll Warriors. He had a ton of ideas—he knew he even the most frustrating, say, ‘I don’t know if he can do this’, and Steve wanted to play fast and loose—but that was it. apathetic kid. is always the rah-rah guy. He sees something And he knew he couldn’t imitate his mentors. sometimes that we don’t see. He recognizes the Popovich was in the military, so “Pound the small contributions.” Rock” worked for him. But that wasn’t Kerr. If he tried to be “Little Pop”, or a watered-down Barnes describes Kerr as forever “in your version of , he’d fail. “Players see corner”. “It’s a way in which he leads by not re- right through it,” Kerr says at lunch. “What I minding everyone of his position,” says Barnes. learned from all the coaches I talked to was “He can be the head coach but he can also take that your entire process has to reflect your own you aside and be a fan of your game.” values.”

This is most evident with someone like Curry, Which, I note at lunch, goes back to where for Kerr often seems just as amazed as the rest those values derive from, which would be… of us by his exploits. But it’s also in those other moments, the small ones, such as the well-pub- “My parents,” Kerr says immediately. Then he licized (but telling) moment this season when pauses. “Now it’s my turn to get misty,” Kerr I honestly don’t think cameras caught Kerr on the bench showing says, for we’d discussed Pop’s tendency to do JOY would be the first word Curry, in a relative slump at the time, how this at times. “Now I’m going out of my mouth when asked merely taking shots helps the team. “Carry on, on you … thinking about my dad.” about my core values, but I my son,” Kerr said. WISH it were. 18. Malcolm Kerr It’s not just players. Last June, Kerr met with In 1984, while president of American Univer- Mike Brown at the team hotel in Cleveland on sity in , Malcolm was shot and killed on an off day during the Finals. They covered a lot his way to work. Steve was a freshman at the Finding your own way as of topics, but one thing stuck out for Brown. University of Arizona at the time. This past an adviser is not easy. If you Recalls Brown: “He said, Mike, everyone labels December, John Branch of the New York Times are starting from scratch, you you a quote unquote defensive coach, and that’s wrote about the event, and Kerr’s childhood in may quite rightly think you BS. I just need you to come coach and be you.” Beirut. Some of the Warriors read the story and should imitate an adviser were surprised. Kerr had never brought up the you admire. And there is Which is reminiscent of… experience to the team, just as he never spoke a logic to that. Why try to about or used his health as a motivational tac- invent something when 17. What Pete Carroll Said to Kerr tic. Four days after our lunch, as his headaches someone else can help you In the summer of 2014, Kerr spent a few days worsened, Kerr was still insisting on running cut through the confusion? in Seattle with Carroll and the Seahawks. Re- practice. He led drills and addressed the media. calls Kerr: “He basically told me, I’ve spent 10 Afterward, I asked a few players how they But each advising situation years coaching to figure all this out. I got fired thought Kerr was doing. Fine, they said, as far is different, so you will likely twice and learned a ton under Bill Walsh and as they knew. “This year he hasn’t really told us find that what works in one then tried to formulate my coaching philoso- anything,” said Clark. “We all just assume he’s place, for one person, does phy only to realize I didn’t really have one.” The doing well.” not work for you. key, Carroll finally realized: Your approach has to reflect your identity. The next day Kerr announced his leave of And the mere act of slogging absence. through the process of “Give me one of your core values,” Carroll said finding your own style, your to Kerr. “He has this powerful message of what he’s own curriculum may lead to gone though and the stories of the past are so better practices... for YOU! Kerr thought for a moment. “Joy.” horrible. I mean, that guy is tough,” says Fraser. “But he doesn’t want the credit, because he that … These four core values doesn’t want the players to see him like that.” are pretty impressive, and 21. The Warriors Are Contagious you could do worse than By the way, the four core values Kerr came up Last summer, when Mike Brown arrived for place those on a poster in with in 2014, the ones he still writes on the the first day of summer league with his new your classroom, and then whiteboard occasionally? Joy, Competition, team, he noticed a young man with a computer remind yourself of them Compassion, and Mindfulness. across the gym, setting up what appeared to be when you feel swamped speakers on a table—“like he was a DJ, and he by administrative detail, 19. Kids On The Plane was gonna scratch or something.” Brown is an grade grubbing, and all the Popovich allowed it, and now so does Kerr, old school coach. Take the job seriously. Put in general B.S. that everyone recalling how special it was to take Nick, then the hours. He figured this was just some new encounters in a school. 7, on a road trip as a ballboy and Maddie, then advanced tracking gizmo. And then: music. 5, for a hotel sleepover (“I mean, what a special Music during stretching. Music during practice Not every teacher may be time to spend with your daughter”). “Pop (!). Finally, Jarron Collins spoke to the team. able to include Competition, understood the power of family,” says Kerr. “He Mercifully, the music stopped. “But then he fin- BTW, but advisers CAN. There recognized that’s way more important than the ishes and it comes right back on!” says Brown. are opportunities for kids to sanctity of the team plane.” earn awards for their writing, Then, on the first team flight that fall, as Brown photos, and designs, and Often family is a euphemism for “team”. With pulled out his laptop—“that’s when I always we should help them enter the Warriors it’s actual family. Steph and lock in, on the flight”—he heard more music. various competitions. Ayesha and Riley and Dell. Klay and Mychal. Not from the players’ section. The coaches. Draymond and his mom. ’s twin He looked around, not wanting to make eye sons, who shoot around with the players. ZaZa contact. “I was like, wow, the coaches got music Pachulia brought his kids on a Sacramento going on!” But he wanted to fit in—“there are road trip toward the end of the season. different ways to skin a cat, right?”—so he put My critique sessions, his head down and then, surreptitiously, stuck presented to the entire Does all this make the team closer? Who in earphones. staff, and often taking 2-3 knows, but it does help prepare them for … class days, were legend. I In the months that followed, Brown occasional- am not happy about it, but 20. Appropriate Fear ly looked to Adams, another old school coach, sometimes tears appeared. Remember that thing Nick Kerr said earlier for commiseration. When Kerr hired Adams, My voice would rise, about his dad occasionally snapping? Steve says in 2014, the then-66-year-old took one look at sometimes in anger or with it’s on purpose (at least with the players; the Kerr’s “fast and loose and fun” approach—the a tinge of sarcasm. I would refs elicit a primal rage from Kerr that mystifies music, the jokes—and told Kerr, “This is a f---- occasionally pound a desk to even his friends). -- circus. It’ll never work.” emphasize a point.

It’s a concept Kerr got from Lute Olson and Midway through that season, however, Adams My wife likes to tell me Pop—“who I was always a bit afraid of.” The re-assessed. “This is an interesting stew you’ve about how our children idea: to create a balance between a really good cooked up,” he told Kerr, “but it works.” Now, would sometimes come relationship with the players—where they to talk to Adams about his Warriors experience home from school (all three know that you genuinely care about their lives is not dissimilar from talking to a parent who’s were editors for me) and and how their careers are going and their retired and found some new passion. Adams share their anger at their kids—and every once in a while snapping to says Kerr is always telling him how much he’s father’s nastiness. “remind them how much you’re asking of them learned from him; Adams tells Kerr it’s the and that you’re in charge.” Kerr believes players other way around. “I came from a coaching era Here’s the thing: I got just as will accept the outburst if they know you care that was very different from now,” says Adams. mad at myself, just as keyed about them. “To be honest, it’s sort of how I “The coach had authority and you told people up about my bad ideas or parented too,” he says. “I think my kids would what to do and it wasn’t a horizontal, relational bad advice. all tell you that I’m incredibly laid back but pattern. I’ve learned an awful lot from Steve in they all had a tiny bit of fear, because they knew terms of the possibilities for doing something We were in it together, so I could snap.” (Nick agrees, though he struggles in a different matter.” He elaborates. “The older most of my students could to recall more than one such snapping.) you get the more you realize you can be great find it in their hearts to technically—I’ve always prided myself on forgive me. They wanted a Then again, maybe the truth of all this is just trying to be a good teacher—but people have to bit of passion in their lives. If your media class be ...“ he pauses. “Maybe happy isn’t the right I were smart like , I would have trade- looks a bit like a Warriors word, but they have to be cultivated mental- marked it,” Kerr jokes). Anyone who’s seen a practice, with you wandering ly, emotionally, because things have got to be Warriors game probably recognizes it: Strength the room, checking in with enjoyable, especially in sports, because you’re in Numbers. reporters, offering quick criticized all the time.” advice, sharing a joke or a 23. One Finger Up quick story... well, that is Which leads us to the fact that … Last season, when Kerr stepped away for the great. first time, Walton tried not to change any- 22. Kerr Has Crazy-Good Emotional Intelli- thing, going so far as to continue rebounding Great advising is less a stage gence for Green, because that’s what he’d done as an performance and more an Last year, social psychologist Dacher Keltner assistant. improv set. You know the big attended a pair of Warriors practices at the picture of what you would invitation of the team. Keltner, who runs a lab Brown is operating similarly. Kerr has been like to see, but all those at UC Berkeley, studies nonverbal cues, how speaking to Brown once or twice a day, un- individuals bring unique people gain and keep power, and the dynamics derstanding how complicated this can be. “He backgrounds and emotions. of compassion. When Pixar wanted to under- has a very tricky job on his hands and he has You just have to step up stand emotion for the movie Inside Out, the handled it unbelievably well,” Kerr writes in an to whatever situation you company called Keltner. email after the Game 1 win over the Spurs. “He encounter. has to try to continue to grow our culture while As he watched the Warriors run through drills, at the same time make the coaching decisions Don’t forget “Yes, and...” as Keltner was struck by Kerr’s approach. Rather that are in his gut, regardless of what I think. opposed to the reflexive “No, than barking orders, or standing and watching, And yet I’m behind the scenes still talking with because...” arms crossed—typical postures of authori- players and providing messaging and advice to ty—Kerr moved around the court, checking Mike and his staff. That’s a tough dynamic to I love this idea of our on players. Sometimes he focused on a star reconcile but he’s doing a great job of it. We’re staff as an “interesting but more often it was a reserve, sharing a joke, lucky to have him.” collective” (sort of like the a subtle touch on the shoulder, or a quick tip. ancient curse: May you live in When Kerr listened, he turned his whole body, To Green, this all comes back to Kerr. “When interesting times.). We need leaning in. Later, when the two men had lunch, Steve arrived, he built a culture of empower- to remind ourselves that we Kerr spent the bulk of it asking Keltner ques- ment,” says Green. “It’s like the old saying, If I need everyone, and that tions. When the conversation eventually turned punch somebody with a fist, I’m gonna knock everyone has a part to play. to basketball, Kerr spoke about how grateful em out. But if I punch somebody with a fist he was to be able to coach for a living. Keltner with one finger up, I’m going to break my f--- Which leads to “strength was struck by this, as he assumed Kerr’s job to --- finger. And that’s what he did. You’re more in Numbers” as the Warriors’ be stressful, and knew the coach suffered from powerful like this”—and here Green makes marketing slogan. Shouldn’t chronic pain. And yet, says Keltner, “He really a fist. He continues. “So he built a culture to that be our publication’s did see it as a privilege to be a coach.” where, one man down, the next man has to step motto? Shouldn’t that be our up. And it’s not just on him, it’s on everybody SCHOOL’S unofficial motto? Keltner had seen this combination of person- to come together and empower that next man ality traits in powerful people before—intellec- and have his back through whatever the situa- There is a tug-of-war in tual curiosity, empathy, humility—but he didn’t tion is, and ride for him just like you’d ride for society, between those expect to find it in an NBA coach. Rather than Steve. Or ride for Kevin just like you’d ride for who are inclined to “go it enforcing a traditional hierarchy, Kerr had in Steph. Or ride for Patrick McCaw the same way alone,” who think of life as Keltner’s eyes created, “this really interesting you gonna ride for Klay. Because the system he a battle, with clear winners collective.” Says Keltner: “The whole empa- taught us is all about continuing to move on, and losers, and with those thetic approach was pretty stunning, when you you just continue to flow.” inclined to cooperate, who think about running a billion dollar team.” see collaboration as more 4. The Study powerful than individual brilliance (though no one This was not an accident. Back in 2014, after Three decades ago, a pair of academics named ignores individual brilliance). taking the Warriors job, Kerr spent a month Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner began studying thinking up a slogan for his new team, then en- leadership. After hundreds of interviews and Do you believe that “we are listed Albert to narrate an introductory video surveys, they came to the conclusion that ex- in this together”? for the players. The motto was such a hit that emplary leaders share five practices. I brought the marketing department decided to use it (“If the list to Kerr and read them off. They are: 1. Model the Way (that is, setting an example chase credit. “Some people crave that feeling I guess I might have for how you want others to act) of things falling apart when they’re not there,” just settled for sharing these says . “Steve’s the opposite.” Instead, five practices of exemplary 2. Inspire a Shared Vision (get buy-in for a Myers uses the analogy of a parent whose kids leaders, and they would common goal and believe in it passionately) go off to college.If well prepared, the kids will make a handsome series of flourish without parental guidance. “Because PowerPoint slides, but they 3. Challenge the Process (see risks as opportu- your teachings are still there.” are more powerful when nities) we first see how one leader You know the references to leadership rules developed his approach 4. Enable Others to Act (empowering those and secrets mentioned earlier? Kerr would without ever seeing the list. around you) find the concepts hilarious, invoking one of his favorite words: bullsh--. It’s a term he uses 5. Encourage the Heart (focus on the humanity often, and which has filtered down to the staff. I’m not a fan of using of people, and make them “feel like heroes”) The message is only good if you believe the Big Data to evaluate messenger, right? And Kerr believes human are teachers, but this idea that As I read, Kerr nodded along. “Yeah,” he said. adept at sniffing out bulls---. So, no, he has no kids will flourish in their “Right, right. Interesting.” leadership secrets, because secrets are things no futures, even without you, if one else knows. they are properly prepared, Then, when I finished, he said, “I’d never sounds like TRUTH. thought of that before but when you read that You want to lead like Kerr? It’s easy. Just be it all made sense.” He paused. “That’s basically humble and grateful, curious and self-aware. Teaching and coaching and who we are.” Communicate, value family, and empower advising, at their very heart, others. When bad things happen, keep a broad- are more about the future 25. Who They Are er perspective. Most of all, create something than now, and more about This Monday, Kerr showed up at practice to be bigger than yourself for, as Keltner points out, what the students do AFTER with the team, though team officials cautioned the real test of a leader is what happens once they leave our care. not to read too much into it when it comes to they leave. his recovery. At heart, Kerr is a competitor. A And that leads to the guy who retired from the NBA and immedi- Which is to say that, as you’ve probably de- final highlighted point. Of ately took up serious tennis, playing two-hour duced by now, the reasons Kerr is so important course, it’s nice to win some hard court matches (which in turn torched his to the Warriors are not all that complicated. awards now, to get some knees). He fights the elliptical machine at the They are the same reasons the team is doing thanks today. To “win.” practice facility most days but it’s not the same. fine without him. But that can’t be the end And yet, unlike some competitors, Kerr doesn’t of it.

Who we are... And your core values are...? Review the five practices of exemplary Start your list here, and add a brief explanation leaders described above and list one way you that helps develop your thinking about each value demonstrated each in your classroom in a blog post or short reflective essay.   Want to learn more about these five practices? Find a PDF of an article by the authors here: http://www.pnbhs.school.nz/ wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-Five-Prac- tices-of-Exemplary-Leadership.pdf  