Coach Steve Kerr to make season debut on Warriors bench
— -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, after missing more than half of the season, is returning to the bench effective immediately.
Kerr announced after a Friday morning shootaround that he will coach the Warriors in Friday night's home game against the Indiana Pacers (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
"I was thinking of doing like MJ did and send a fax out that just says, 'I'm back,'" Kerr said, "but I don't think faxes, do they even exist at this point? I don't know."
After posting a 67-15 record and winning the NBA title in his first season as Warriors coach, Kerr missed almost all of training camp and the first 43 games of the season for complications stemming from offseason back surgery. The first of two surgeries Kerr underwent over the summer caused a spinal fluid leak that left him suffering from painful headaches for months.
Kerr has been traveling with the team since the end of December in hopes of proving he is able to resume the day-to-day grind involved with NBA coaching. He informed his players Friday morning just before the shootaround began that he had decided to make his return against the Pacers.
"Thank you to the fans who've been sending their support one way or another," Kerr said. "Probably most of all my wife I have to thank because she's been incredible throughout this whole thing, and it's been rough. I think you guys know that. I've gotten a lot better. I feel really good, ready to roll. Can't wait to get back out there."
A victory over Indiana would give Golden State its 38th straight regular-season home win, tying the Warriors with the 1985-86 Celtics for third place on the all-time list for such unbeaten streaks. The Warriors are 19-0 at home this season and haven't lost at Oracle Arena since a 113-111 overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 27, 2015.
The Pacers will be without George Hill (personal reasons), Ian Mahinmi (sprained ankle) and Rodney Stuckey (ankle sprain/bruise) for Friday's contest. Pacers coach Frank Vogel said Hill, who has also missed Indiana's past two games, will rejoin the team Saturday against the Sacramento Kings.
Assistant coach Luke Walton posted a 39-4 record as Golden State's interim coach, but NBA rules dictate that all of those wins and losses go on Kerr's record. Walton won NBA Coach of the Month honors for November after the Warriors completed the season's first month with a 19-0 record en route to a 24-0 run, which eclipsed the previous NBA record for the best start to a season (15-0).
"What can you say about Luke," Kerr said. "I thought maybe he'd go 40-3, but 39-4, we'll have to settle for that.
"Luke is just an absolute star. He's humble, smart and loyal. He just stepped in and did an amazing job. The whole staff did a brilliant job."
Information from ESPN senior writer J.A. Adande and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
