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🏀 Warriors Thought Steve Kerr was 'Out of his Mind'

🏀 Warriors Thought Steve Kerr was 'Out of his Mind'

Chris Lesiak
September 19, 2022

Dennis Schroder reunites with the Los Angeles Lakers, Spain beats France to win EuroBasket gold medal, and Warriors players thought Steve Kerr was 'out of his mind' when he was first hired.

Start your week off strong!

DENNIS SCHRODER

Dennis Schroder Reunited with the Los Angeles Lakers

Free agent guard Dennis Schroder was welcomed back to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday on a one-year, $2.64M deal. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka and Coach Darwin Ham both reached out to Russell Westbrook beforehand to let him know they were planning on signing Schroder.

Ham and Schroder spent five seasons together on the Atlanta Hawks earlier in Schroder’s career. Pelinka released a statement on the signing saying, “Not only do Dennis and Coach Ham share a player-coach history together, but they also reflect one another's mentality of toughness with an extremely competitive edge. Dennis will add both depth and an on-ball defensive presence to our core at the guard position.”

Schroder averaged 15.4 points and six assists during his previous stint with the Lakers during the 2020-21 season. He would eventually turn down an extension worth over $80 million during the season and then signed with the Celtics the following year.

EUROBASKET

Spain Beats France to Win EuroBasket Gold Medal

Spain won its fourth European Championship in its past six tries on Sunday beating France 88-76. All four of these gold medals have come under Coach Sergio Scariolo. Juancho Hernangomez scored 27 points for Spain while his brother Willy added 14 and won tournament MVP honors.

This year was intended to be a rebuilding season for Spain after losing both Pau and Marc Gasol to retirement. Former Spanish star, Sergio Gonzalez also walked away from the game last summer after 16 seasons with the Spanish National Team. Ultimately the team’s youth won this gold medal for Spain.

For France on the other hand it was another year of coming up just short of the gold. France’s last gold came all the way back in 2013 at the EuroBasket and since then they have won two silver and two bronze medals.

WARRIORS

Warriors Players Thought Steve Kerr was 'Out of his Mind' When he was First Hired

The Warriors firing Coach Mark Jackson in the summer of 2014 came to a surprise to many people. Fresh off of two playoff appearances and a 51-win season we now know Jackson’s dismissal wasn’t about just basketball. Although bringing in Steve Kerr that summer created one of the best offenses the NBA has ever seen.

Kerr immediately turned Golden State’s offense from an individual matchup based style to a style that thrived on moving without the basketball. Operating an offense like this can take a lot of team chemistry and was not as smooth as intended from the beginning. Draymond revealed that he, among other players, didn't understand Kerr’s offense.

"When Steve Kerr took over the job, I remember the first training camp, he's like, ball movement, cut, stop standing and waiting for the ball. I'll catch the ball at the top of the key, Steph on the wing, and [Kerr is] like, 'Steph, cut,' and it's like, 'No, dude, I'm supposed to pass the ball to Steph right here.' And he said, 'Pass the ball and move. Without the ball, the ball will find the hands of the people that are supposed to get the shots.' Green concluded, “We all thought Kerr was out of his mind.”

Kerr’s offense would eventually click for the Warriors and in their first season under Kerr he turned the Warriors into the No. 2 ranked offense in the NBA. Not only this but Kerr would lead Golden State to its first championship since 1975. I think it is now safe to say Kerr’s offense turned out just fine for the Warriors.