Warriors: Steve Kerr praises team’s start, Luke Walton’s leadership
CHARLOTTE — Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton was named the Western Conference Coach of the Month on Tuesday, an announcement from the NBA that would have seemed inevitable if it weren’t for the fact that Walton is officially 0-0.
Sure, the Warriors are 19-0 — the best start in NBA history — but those victories are awarded to head coach Steve Kerr, who is on a leave of absence while recovering from two offseason back surgeries, one of which started a spinal-fluid leak.
“I’m extremely proud of Luke and the whole staff and all of the players,” Kerr said in a phone conversation.
The NBA clarified its rules, saying the head coach of record is credited with team wins and losses, but any team head coach, interim head coach or acting head coach is eligible to be recognized with league coaching awards.
Kerr was quoted as saying the policy of not awarding interim coaches with wins and losses was “ridiculous,” but he said that was before he knew the history of the precedent.
Once he learned why the rule was created — stories like Don Nelson, who would be dropped from the No. 1 spot among the league’s all-time winningest coaches, if the handful of games he missed were granted to an interim coach — Kerr rescinded his “ridiculous” comment.
Walton said Kerr should be Coach of the Month, because the Warriors are running his system and feeding off the climate he created as the Warriors won the franchise’s first title in 40 years last season.
With the best-ever start already accomplished, the Warriors are making a run at the league’s all-time winning streak of 33 games, which the 1971-72 Lakers set.
Including the final four regular-season games from last season, the Warriors have won 23 in a row.
“I’m thrilled watching our play and to watch individual players succeed,” Kerr said.
Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has averaged 25.7 points on 44.4 percent three-point shooting, to go with 7.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds, in 10 games against his hometown Charlotte team.
The Hornets have played six straight home games and haven’t played since Sunday.
The Warriors are on the second game of a seven-game road trip and are coming off a stretch during which they played three games in four nights and in three cities.
Charlotte forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Warriors forward Harrison Barnes, both top-seven picks in the 2012 draft, won’t play.
Kidd-Gilchrist has missed the past 17 games after right shoulder surgery, and Barnes will have his sprained left ankle, which has cost him two games in a row, reevaluated Sunday.
The Warriors are 9-0 on the road, averaging a league-best 117.9 points per game away from Oracle Arena.
Charlotte is tops in the league in limiting its turnovers to 12.6 per game and in limiting opponents’ points off turnovers to 13.9.
The Warriors rank among the bottom nine in both categories, committing 16.1 turnovers per game and allowing opponents to convert 18.1 points off the gaffes.
Consecutive victories to open the season, which is an NBA record for best start.