Warriors’ Steph Curry, Steve Kerr developed connection through golf: NBC Sports Bay Area and California

Before bonding on the court, Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr bonded on the green.

In an interview with ESPN’s Anthony Slater published Friday, the Warriors’ star guard and coach revealed how a round of golf shortly after Kerr’s hiring in 2014 helped the duo form the chemistry that ignited Golden State’s dynasty.

As Slater writes, Kerr felt he needed to connect with Curry, the team’s star, who had expressed support for previous Warriors coach Mark Jackson before his firing in May 2014. That connection came when he and Golden State CEO Joe Lacob met Curry and his father, Dell, for a two-on-two game at Pebble Beach.

“That’s when I really got into my talk,” Kerr told Slater of his conversation with Curry between holes. “My thought was, ‘I’m here to help you build on the foundation that Mark has already built.’ I told him they were the fourth ranked defense. Mark changed the culture and got them serious about two-way basketball. He established it. I said, ‘I’m not here to do anything other than help you build on the foundation that’s already there.’ And it was genuine.

Those words resonated with Curry.

“It helped us [Kerr] he’s a former player,” Curry told Slater. “It helped that I’d heard him talk on TV for years. It helped that I knew he was a GM [with the Phoenix Suns] even if the work didn’t go very well. It helped that he wasn’t trying to blow everything up.”

At the time, the Warriors were in trade talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves about a potential blockbuster: Klay Thompson for Minnesota forward Kevin Love. Kerr, as Curry told Slater, was “very pro-Klay” when the topic came up during the course. In keeping with Kerr’s message of continuity to Curry, the team ultimately chose to stick with its foundation and keep Thompson.

It was a productive day at the links, even if it featured something that would prove rare for Curry in years to come: a loss.

“[Kerr and Lacob] he beat us,” Curry told Slater, shaking his head. “Joe played well.”

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