DIMES: Through the noise, Steve Kerr is doing a great job with Team USA, actually
Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the NBA offseason and beyond
In Olympics news, social media doesn’t reflect real life. Who knew?
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics have given the entire country a chance to be mad at Steve Kerr on social media. And, as is often the case in the Warriors’ corner of X/Twitter, the hate is baffling.
The Warriors head coach has been memed, lit up by Stephen A. Smith, compared to a middle school coach and accused of being in over his head. Kerr probably didn’t do himself any favors when he admitted he “felt like an idiot” for not playing Celtics star Jayson Tatum last weekend.
It’s all nonsense.
The tough decisions Kerr has made have spawned headlines. They’ve infuriated fans. They’ve also totally worked.
In Team USA’s group stage opener against Serbia, Kerr benched Tatum – the leader of the defending NBA champions, an already established international player, a two-way force and undeniably one of the best players in the world.
With Tatum on the bench and Celtics fans fuming, the U.S. beat Serbia, one of the best teams in the tournament, by 26.
The next game, Kerr started Tatum and completely benched Joel Embiid — a top-10 player and the 2023 NBA MVP. Many fans couldn’t believe it.
Without Embiid, the Americans smoked an upstart South Sudan team, 103-86. In each game, with the big name benched, the U.S. looked much more coherent than at any time during exhibition play.
Against Puerto Rico, Kerr gave both Embiid and Tatum ample time to feel out how to make an impact within the team. Tatum understood the assignment better than Embiid, but each played well as the U.S. handily clinched the top overall seed in the tournament.
Tatum and Embiid are outstanding players. They also were the two who struggled the most to fit in during the pre-Olympics games. They’re probably the two most turnover-prone players on a roster that only turnovers can take down. And with Tatum’s jump shot mysteriously lost, they might be the two worst outside shooters, too.
Kerr isn’t in Paris to play the best player on your favorite team. His job is to lead the U.S. to gold.
On that front, Kerr has gotten buy-in up and down a roster stacked with as much ego as it is talent. Have you seen Devin Booker? He’s totally committed to defending at a high level and playing within the system.
He’s found combinations that work — a more difficult task than it might seem with all this talent. The trio of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Bam Adebayo looks impossible to score against. The two-man game with LeBron James and Steph Curry will keep them on the court together, even as Curry struggles to find his shot. He’s created two platoon units with distinct styles.
Most revealing of Kerr’s impact is that neither Tatum nor Embiid made a public stink about their benchings.
“Our guys know the key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rearview mirror and just win six games,” Kerr said after the Serbia game.
That’s the exact right mindset and the perfect message — from the perfect messenger.
Assistants Erik Spoelstra or Tyronn Lue might be better at making in-game adjustments than Kerr. They’re less beholden to a style than Kerr is, which makes it easier to play to the personnel. But it’s hard to argue anyone is better than Kerr at getting a collection of talent pulling in the same direction. For the most star-studded roster since the Dream Team, there’s no more important quality.
Anything short of a gold medal would be a massive disappointment. As it stands now, after three games, the nation should have confidence in Kerr’s ability to guide the red, white and blue there.
Instead, it’ll be more nonsense. What would representing America be without a dash of bad-faith outrage?
Lauri Markkanen sweepstakes enter final stage
One way or another, the Lauri Markkanen situation is going to get settled in the next few days.
Tuesday is when Markkanen and the Jazz can sign an extension. It’s the key date the Warriors have had circled throughout their pursuit of the sweet-shooting 7-footer.
If Markkanen decides not to extend with the Jazz at all, Utah is much more likely to trade the All-Star. If he chooses to extend with Utah a day after Tuesday, on Aug. 7, the Jazz wouldn’t be allowed to trade him again until next offseason because of the collective bargaining agreement prohibiting teams from trading extended players for six months. If the process draws out longer than that, Utah would lose leverage day by day.
A Markkanen extension (or not) will mark the unofficial end of the offseason. He’s the last ball to drop. If it doesn’t drop the Warriors’ way, their 2024-25 season could very well look a lot like the past two.
Coach Moody
Warriors wing Moses Moody is in Johannesburg, South Africa coaching 60 of the continent’s top prospects at a Basketball Without Borders camp. Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin is one of the camp’s directors.
The NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program has been extremely impactful over the past two decades, having helped globalize the sport through investments of time and resources. Over 100 NBA players have participated in BWB camps, including Joel Embiid, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray.
It’s a seriously cool opportunity for Moody, who will be joined by Immanuel Quickley, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic and Celtics assistant Sam Cassell among other NBA coaches.
Predicting current players who could one day become coaches is silly. Players rarely think on those terms for themselves or their peers. But Moody would check a lot of boxes. He has an even temperament, is very cerebral and although he’s somewhat quiet, he’s also a leader.
To be clear, Moody should have a long playing career ahead of him. But if he decides to pursue coaching whenever he hangs up the sneakers, he’d have a good shot at success.
Moody’s experience in South Africa this week could be the start of something for him down the road.