SAN ANTONIO -- Those following the Warriors and their effort to rage through the playoffs should put away those thoughts and hopes that Steve Kerr will return to full-time coaching later this week or sometime before the NBA Finals.
Forget about it, unless you know something he doesn't.
And if you do, he wants to hear what you have to say.
Don't get it wrong: Kerr wants to coach, would love to coach. That's why, even as he feels like hell, he's hanging around the team like a languid groupie. He wants to be with the Warriors in the heat of battle because they're his team, within the culture he instilled, and he would like nothing more to get another chance to win The Finals.
But because the procedure he underwent more than two weeks ago at Duke Spine Center did not deliver the relief he'd hoped for, Kerr knows he's not up to the task and, therefore, continues to operate as sort of a associate head coach to acting head coach Mike Brown.
"Mike is doing great," Kerr told NBCSportsBayArea.com late Monday night, after the Warriors clinched a third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals with a 129-115 Game 4 win over the Spurs. "He's such a wonderful human being. He's so unselfish and team-oriented. I'm proud of him and the job he's doing, along with the rest of the staff. I wish I could be out there with them. And maybe I will. I don't know. We'll see.
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"He's a great partner. And we're in this together, obviously, but he's got to make decisions with the staff without me. He's done a great job of navigating the games. We're undefeated, so he's doing something right."
Kerr can only help from the perimeter. The demands of the job require the coach be able to function at near-peak levels, particularly before and during a game, and he simply can't. He knows there will be times, all too often, when the discomfort becomes unbearable to such a degree he hardly can think straight.
The agony is visible. The players see it. The staff sees it. Brown sees it, feels it and hears it. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is one of Kerr's best friends -- as well as a good friend of Brown -- was able to see it during the Western Conference Finals.
"I've spoken with Steve and Mike; we're friends," Popovich said two hours before Game 4. "We've known each other a long time. But as far as Steve's concerned, it's just a crap situation.
"You know, he's done a phenomenal job. And when you're going through that pain every day and that frustration of not being able to do what you want to do, it's hard to enjoy it at the fullest level. So I feel badly for him all the time but hopeful that stuff will get figured out."
Nobody wants that more than Kerr, who has tried nearly everything any respectable specialist has recommended. So far, there has been no miracle.
So Kerr forges ahead, getting his Warriors fix by being around the group. By meeting with coaches and players. By meeting with general manager Bob Myers. Kerr was with the Warriors throughout their stay in San Antonio. He was at practices and shootarounds, sometimes on the floor and sometimes sitting in the stands observing from afar.
"I need to be around the guys," he said. "I don't want to miss this. Just being in the locker room, being able to talk to the guys means a lot to me. I'm thrilled for them. It's fun to see how happy they are with three straight trips to The Finals. It's pretty incredible."
Kerr has been with the team for at least a few hours every day since May 10, less than a week after his procedure at Duke.
Kerr's presence has been invaluable, both physically and psychologically, according to staff and players.
"Coach just empowers everybody," Kevin Durant said. "His message is still the same. Even when he wasn't there in the Utah series, you could still feel his presence. That's what great leaders do."
Participation, making himself feel useful, is one form of therapy that gives Kerr a semi-satisfying break from the misery.
"He watches film, and he watches the game," Brown said. "So he gives his perspective from where he is. He gives insight on what we should be doing going forward, what he felt we could have done better, what we did that was good. So he just gives his input, mainly. He addresses the team every once in a while. He doesn't always do that, but he'll address the team from time to time."
There was some belief that Kerr could return to full-time coaching within a week or so after the procedure, for which he declined to provide details. Warriors CEO Joe Lacob expressed hope Kerr might return "sooner rather than later." Had it been as successful as Kerr and the doctors hoped, he would have.
That was May 5. Kerr announced he was stepping aside on April 23. As of Wednesday, he was been on leave for a full month.
Asked if he plans to travel during the NBA Finals, Kerr said he hopes so: "It's like a month away," he said, exaggerating the nine-day layoff.
He'd rather say with certainty that, yes, he will be accompanying the team because, after all, he's the head coach.
And he will say that, the moment his body tells him it's OK to do so.
