By now it is well-documented how Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took a page out of Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll‘s book by playing music during warmups, practices and shootarounds at the Warriors practice facility to keep the guys loose.
As Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group reported back in December:
“To me, the X’s and O’s … they’re an important part of coaching but a relatively small part. Eighty percent of it is just relationships and atmosphere, what your daily routine and culture is.
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“Are players engaged, are they enjoying themselves, are they competing? All those principals he talked about, and we talked about different ideas of ways to make those things come to life. To me, that’s his gift.”
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Practical result: Kerr saw how Carroll’s players reacted when the Seahawks played music throughout practice, so he installed speakers at the Warriors site, and there is now music playing through most Warriors sessions.
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“It’s a staple for the Seahawks — it’s really uplifting and it’s fun,” said Kerr, who has piped in an array of rap and rock.
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“Everybody’s bouncing around and energetic, but you’ve got to focus, too. So there’s different reasons to employ that. But that came from Pete.”
The topic of Kerr and how he keeps the Warriors from becoming too serious came up again during the eight-day break before the start of the NBA Finals this Thursday — specifically, the “circus” of full-court shots, drop-kicks, and the like, that has become a ritual for this team. Heck, it’s even been credited for Stephen Curry‘s 62-foot back-breaker against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals.
As Scott Cacciola of the New York Times wrote recently:
So their practices must be incredibly organized and disciplined, right? Laser-beam focus and all that? It is the only reasonable conclusion, given the way the Warriors steamrollered their opposition en route to the N.B.A. finals. But Golden State, whose best-of-seven series against the Cleveland Cavaliers starts Thursday, has a dirty secret.
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“I’ve told Steve, if someone came in and watched the way you practice, it would be embarrassing for you as a coach,” said Bruce Fraser, one of his assistants.
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Specifically, it has to do with the way the Warriors start their practices. The players form four lines to jog and get loose, which is normal enough, but then things get weird.
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They warm up by launching a series of court-length shots — heaves that graze light fixtures and ricochet off shot clocks, total prayers that occasionally reach the rim but more often than not leave members of the coaching staff scrambling for safety.
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Yes, the Warriors typically turn the first five to 10 minutes of every practice into something that looks more like middle-school recess.
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“When we’re warming up and stuff,” Curry said, “you see balls just flying everywhere.”
Who’s the best at these circus shots?
“Steph is definitely the best at it. I’m not bad. I’m a close second,” center Festus Ezeli, who is not exactly ranked high in the exemplary hand-eye coordination list on the team, told Cacciola. “Don’t ask anybody about that, though.”
“It keeps the environment loose. I almost hit a full-court one today, right off the front rim,” smiled Draymond Green this past Saturday, proudly.
Andre Iguodala even confirmed that a rap video made by Kerr while he was at the University of Arizona was inserted in one of the Warriors’ game film studies.
[facebook url=”https://www.facebook.com/LetsGoWarriors/videos/697836580328217" data-width="466"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https:/” /]The shenanigans don’t stop on the practice facility court, though. Green and associate head coach Alvin Gentry have been locked in a bitter “catch-you-while-you’re-sleeping” war since the season started.
“He all over my Instagram,” boasted Green, although he really meant his Twitter photo feed. “Check it out. It’s pretty cool.”
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But give credit to Kerr for setting the table.
As Kawakami added in a piece this week:
[Also check out Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN’s piece on Kerr: Kerr’s golden plan for the Warriors]
“The casual light-hearted nice guy is actually true, but there’s a lot more going on inside,” Kerr’s good friend, Warriors assistant Bruce Fraser, said of Kerr.
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“It’s like this volcano that’s not erupting, but it’s got that lava always in there. That’s him–an active volcano with thought, with real substance inside.
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“Don’t be fooled by the plainness.”
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via ESPN/BANG)
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