OAKLAND -- For the first time since he joined the coaching staff last summer, Mike Brown on Wednesday morning arrived at the Warriors facility a man in charge.
As acting head coach, he would decide when practice started and when it ended, and conduct proceedings in between.
The general activity was not much different for anyone else, though, as it continues to become evident that everything the Warriors do for the foreseeable future will be a Brown-Kerr, or Kerr-Brown, production.
"Steve is going to be a part of this process the whole time," Brown said after practice. "Almost before I do anything, I'm going to consult with him. The only time I won't consult with him is probably during a game."
Since Kerr's announcement last Sunday that he was taking an indefinite leave to attend to personal health issues, Brown has been wielding the clipboard. He actually coached Game 3 against Portland last Saturday, in Kerr's absence, before knowing in advance he'd also coach Game 4 Monday night.
Brown is 2-0, with the Game 4 win clinching a Warriors sweep of the Trail Blazers. Yet Brown is quick to remind anyone that he is following the plan laid out by Kerr. The two exchanged texts Tuesday and, according to Brown, "spoke at length" after the game between the Jazz and the Clippers -- one of which will face the Warriors in the next round.
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Though the Warriors are operating under a different head coach, all indications are the atmosphere around the team remains stable and relatively unchanged.
"Obviously it's different personalities, but when you make it about the players, when you make it about winning, all that other stuff really doesn't matter," Kevin Durant said. "He coaches us. He coaches the game of basketball and he does it very well. Our whole coaching staff does the same thing.
"When it's about basketball, it's not about trying to have authority over us. He's just coaching us. He's just coaching us up. He's just telling us the proper way to do things on the basketball court. It's pretty simple when you try to do that. Then it's on us to try to execute."
Execution has gone well, particularly over the last six quarters of the series against Portland. The Warriors wiped out a 16-point deficit in the second half to win Game 3, and then rolled to a 35-9 start in Game 4 before coasting to the closeout victory.
Brown was on the sideline in Game 4, with Kerr watching the game from the locker room.
It's fairly apparent, though, that everyone involved feels a heightened sense of accountability and ownership.
"Mike has had a pretty big voice throughout the whole season," Durant said. "He's been a head coach before, understands what it takes to be a head coach. And the coaching staff is just so smart, and they empower each other.
"Anybody, if you're around us on a day-to-day basis, anybody can tell that they work well as a group. Coach Kerr does a great job. He spearheads it all by empowering everybody, from the coaches to the players."
