DIMES: Steve Kerr’s lightning-rod summer

Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the NBA offseason and beyond

This was supposed to be the Summer of Steph, and in some ways, it was.

Against Serbia and in the gold medal game, Steph Curry led Team USA to an triumphant Olympic run. When the games were biggest, the moments their most tense, he rose above the rest. His 36-point semifinal was the best individual performance of the tournament and his game-winning shot over two French defenders will be remembered forever.

But this summer, Steve Kerr, not Curry, became the main character.

The Warriors head coach was constantly in the headlines. By benching Jayson Tatum in the Olympics and then, days later, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, he ticked off the city of Boston and roughly 40% of the voting American populace alike.

And he did so while not making a single misstep.

Kerr was absolutely right to limit Jayson Tatum’s minutes. It was a difficult decision, no doubt, but his job is to make the hard decisions, and it paid off. Kevin Durant and LeBron James were better options as big forwards, and Devin Booker played spectacularly in his role as Tatum’s jump shot betrayed him.

The record speaks for itself: with Kerr pulling the strings, the U.S. made an undefeated run to gold. Kerr should’ve gotten credit, not heat, for yanking Tatum out of the rotation.

Then in Chicago, Kerr made a unifying, seven-minute speech drawing on his background in coaching and with the Bulls. He was poignant and genuine and hit the right notes. And he didn’t say anything particularly controversial, instead calling for a leader with dignity, honesty, love, care, conviction and open-mindedness.

No matter how effective Kerr was, in his rotation decisions or message-delivering, he was the center of attention. Kerr found himself in the crosshairs of Dave Portnoy and Ben Shapiro, and that alone means he’s doing something right.

Kerr represented America in Paris and then stood in front of America at the Chicago pep rally. In both experiences, he was on the receiving end of the unfounded outrage machine that has defined the social media era. It’s nothing new for Kerr, who has been in the public eye for decades, but the dial got turned up a notch. This is the summer Kerr became a walking litmus test.

People are passionate about basketball and about their country. That’s not a bad thing. But when it comes to Kerr, that passion seems to boil over and spoil far more often than it should.

Instagram-induced panic

Curry went to Paris to win Olympic gold and came back with a page out of LeBron James’ playbook: cryptic social media mischief.

Curry started a speculation fire when he changed his Instagram profile picture from a shot of him celebrating the 2022 NBA championship to one of him carrying the U.S. flag after winning the gold medal this summer. He replaced “Guard for the @Warriors” with “Olympic gold medalist” in his bio and sent a collaborative post with James that featured two pictures of them with Kevin Durant.

If it’s any consolation, Curry edited his X/Twitter profile too, but kept the Warriors mention.

August is the absolute dog days of the NBA calendar. Some players use the down time to hop in the studio with A$AP Ferg. Some work on their podcasting skills. Some film empty-gym workout videos. Others might get a kick out of a little social media activity.

Everyone has a little too much time on their hands. It is what it is before training camp approaches.

Curry knows every step will be scrutinized. His tone shifted, ever-so-slightly, this summer when he said he wants to be a Warrior for life while acknowledging things change quickly in the NBA and he wouldn’t want to play for a “bottom-feeder.”

Look at what Curry does, not what he says. It’s almost guaranteed that too much ink has been spilled already about his Instagram. There might be a 0.1% chance that it’s his first move to set up an eventual departure from Golden State. He means so much to the organization and the Bay Area that a 0.1% chance can feel like a 6.0-magnitude earthquake.

As his bio alludes to, Curry can do all things – including send Warriors fans into a panic with a few taps of his screen while on vacation with his family.

1975 documentary

While talking to Rick Barry about his former teammate and coach, the late Alvin Attles, Barry revealed that a documentary about the 1975 championship-winning Warriors is in its “final stages.”

“I’m looking forward to see what kind of a job they did with that,” Barry told me. “To give the credit to my teammates who I don’t think got the recognition they deserved for us pulling off the accomplishment we did. It takes more than one person to win a championship in team sports, obviously, and my teammates never got that recognition.”

The Warriors beat the Bullets in one of the greatest upsets in U.S. team sports history that year. Barry sat down for an interview with the documentary crew, he said, but many members of that team have died in the decades since.

The documentary is expected to be released in 2025 for the 50th anniversary of the championship — the Warriors’ first on the West Coast.

“I just wish Al could still be around to have seen it,” Barry said.

Favorite Al Attles anecdotes

An outpouring of messages arrived in my inbox after Mr. Warriors’ death. Here, edited for brevity, are some Attles recollections from readers and reporting.

On her way to work every day in 1975, Marlene would stop at Sam’s Diner across the Golden Gate Bridge, where Al Attles would often be sitting at the counter with his players or team owner, Franklin Mieuli. The diner, run by two Holocaust survivors, gave one fan a chance to be close to history in the making. 

-Marlene from Martinez

After a chance encounter, legendary Stanford law professor William B. Gould IV and Attles taught together for two decades. Gould enlisted Attles to help launch Stanford’s first Sports Law course in the 1980s. Attles, an HBCU graduate, lectured on the player side, Gould schooled the class on the legal aspects of sports, and late journalist Leonard Koppett covered the media perspective. Of course, students loved Mr. Warrior. 

“(Attles) had a teaching position in his hometown Newark, New Jersey public school system when he tried out for a position with the Philadelphia Warriors (before they moved to the West Coast). Every year he would tell our students about his dramatic negotiation with Philadelphia owner Eddie Gottlieb which had led to his first contract of slightly more than $5,000.00 and a distinguished basketball career – well before the advent of agents, unions and antitrust and labor law (arbitration too) in sports.” 

-William B. Gould IV

Attles had a sense of humor. When Rick Barry stole Jim Barnett’s tennis shoes in 1974, the taskmaster head coach laughed at the practical joke. Attles also knew how to coach star players. At one of the Warriors’ early-morning practices in South Bay that year, Nate Thurmond swiped Attles’ sneakers. The coach wasn’t happy, but when he found out it was Thurmond, the legendary perennial All-Star, Attles cracked up. “Nate was the king, they were great friends.” 

-Jim Barnett

As always: thanks to everyone who shared stories, and those who follow along with our coverage.