OAKLAND, Calif. _ Steve Kerr is returning to the bench for the Warriors and will coach in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
The news broke from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne about five minutes before the scheduled pregame news conference with the Warriors coach and he confirmed it when he took to the podium with a smile and jokingly asked, "Any questions?"
Kerr then announced he wouldn't answer any direct questions about his health beyond that he was feeling better and well enough to coach.
"My intention is to coach tonight and the rest of the series," Kerr said. "I'm feeling better. I'm feeling more like I did at the end of the regular season. The last couple of weeks have been good in terms of running practices and film sessions, coaches meetings and that type of stuff.
"I wanted to string together a few good days and I did that. I'm feeling well enough to coach, so I'll be out there tonight and as I said, the intention is to go the rest of the series. I'm excited and it's good to be back."
Kerr hasn't been on the bench since Game 3 of the Warriors' first-round sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers when Mike Brown took over as acting coach. The Warriors went 12-0 with Brown in charge.
"That Mike guy did OK while I was gone," Kerr cracked.
Kerr said he made the decision Sunday morning that he would be back.
"I had an idea yesterday, but I wanted to see how I was feeling this morning," Kerr said.
Kerr doesn't expect anything to change with the team now that he's officially back on the bench. He's been pretty heavily involved with the team since the start of the Western Conference finals against San Antonio, having been at every practice, meeting and game and often addressing the team pre-game and at halftime.
"Nothing really changes for our players," he said, "We're doing the same stuff and strategy remains the same. We'll keep it rolling and hopefully we'll keep playing well."
