Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has made clear that he is "very concerned" about how the NBA's pace of play and 82-game schedule are contributing to injuries around the league.
The coach's comments also notably arrived after he recently criticized Golden State's early season schedule, which he described as "brutal" given the travel and number of games involved.
Asked Tuesday for his thoughts on the increase in soft tissue injuries at the moment—Victor Wembanyama, for instance, is dealing with a calf strain, Giannis Antetokounmpo is out with a groin strain and Stephon Castle is nursing a hip flexor strain—Kerr said he is "very concerned" about what seems to be a troubling trend and made clear that he believes the workload and style of play are big factors.
"I'm very concerned. It's dramatic. The pace difference is dramatic," Kerr told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "Across the league, everyone understands that it's easier to score if you can beat the opponent down the floor, get out in transition. But when everybody's doing that, the games are much higher-paced, faster-paced. Everyone has to cover out to 25 feet because everybody can shoot threes. We have all the data. Players are running faster and further than ever before. We're trying to do the best we can to protect them, but we basically have a game every other night. It's not an easy thing to do."
The coach continued to note that the Warriors' medical staff is of the belief that "the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage is factoring into these injuries," and added that he has brought up shortening the season before.
"We literally have not had a single practice on this road trip," he said. "Not one. We've been gone a week or longer. Eight days, not one practice. It's just game, game, game. So not only is there no recovery time, there's no practice time. What was different back in the day, you did have four in five nights, which was not great, but then you'd have four days before your next game. So you'd take a day off and you'd actually have a couple good practices."
The league has done a great job ensuring that teams aren't playing four games in five nights anymore, Kerr continued, but the solution still means the "wear and tear is there anyway because it's the accumulation of all those games and the speed and the pace and mileage and everything else."
Still, the coach is not ignorant of the fact that shortening the season would mean that those with a stake in the league would have to accept less revenue—and that's "not happening, you know that."
Steve Kerr said he’s “concerned” about the increase in soft tissue injuries across the NBA. His medical staff believes the increased pace paired with the schedule has led to it.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 18, 2025
“They believe the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage is factoring into these injuries.” pic.twitter.com/VABfBFJMcK
The Warriors will play the Heat on Wednesday night to conclude a six-game stretch on the road. Once that is done, they will have played a league-high 17 games in 29 days across 12 cities, per ESPN's Anthony Slater.
They will thankfully have Thursday off, before beginning a five-game stretch at home, but then it's right back on the road in early December for another four.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steve Kerr Admits He's 'Very Concerned' About Pace of NBA Amid Rash of Injuries.
