“It’s an incredible sense of accomplishment for our group,” said Steve Kerr, coach of Golden State, qualified Thursday for his sixth NBA Finals in eight years, after dismissing Dallas from his road in the play-offs.
“It’s so difficult to get to the final. A season is such a marathon, you have to go through 82 matches, then three rounds of play-offs, you have to beat the best teams in the league… It’s frankly exhausting. It’s stressful, emotional, physical … ”, reacted the coach of the Warriors after the fifth game of the Western Conference final won (120-110) at home.
“It just takes an enormous amount of skill, determination and hard work. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys. These last two years have been difficult, with injuries, the worst record in the league in 2019-2020 … Last season, it was as if we had spent it trying to get back on track, “said he continued.
Klay Thompson absent from the courts for two and a half years, due to a rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the knee in 2019, then another of the right Achilles tendon a year later, Kevin Durant left for Brooklyn, Golden State has indeed had to rebuild.
“I’m really proud of the determination shown over the past two years by our guys, in their day-to-day work, knowing that was the only way to get back to the final, not knowing if we could do it,” insisted Kerr. , welcoming in particular its leaders Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
“It’s a really unique trio, just by the way they complement each other in every way. Draymond is the best defenseman in the league. He is our emotional leader. Steph and Klay are incredible long-range shooters, who feed off each other. The three together, the way they move the ball, it’s beautiful to watch,” he said.
The only team in the past 30 years to play six finals in eight years is Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, with that many sacks between 1991 and 1998. And Kerr was on that team in the second. successful hat-trick under Phil Jackson.
“The common denominator is that we have players, overflowing with talent, who are above all fierce competitors. You have to want to win at all costs. It’s the only way to get there, because you’re exhausted, tired, frustrated. If you don’t have that urge, it’s not going to happen six times in eight years.”
