Defend his title Steve Kerr know well. Very well even. As a player or as a coach, he has indeed experienced this situation on several occasions.
Already in 1997 with the Bulls for example, before the hat-trick in 1998, then twice with the Spurs in 2000 and 2004, when he was still playing. Then on the bench for the Warriors in 2016 and 2018, before 2019 and the failed attempt at a hat-trick.
Each time, he keeps an excellent memory. “My experience is that trying to do the double is very pleasant”, he assures on radio 95.7 The Game. “There is a lot of joy, confidence, energy in the second season. “
Isn’t the pressure to keep the title unpleasant to bear? Not for his Warriors, already crowned in 2015, 2017, 2018 and now in 2022, replies the coach.
“The third year is where you get into the hard part”
“I don’t think we’ll be exhausted. In fact, we will be excited. Players will be ready to defend their property, they love to play, to fight. Everyone is excited. Besides, they don’t have much to prove. For veterans like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green or Andre Iguodala if he returns, there’s not much to prove. They already have four rings. So they can let loose and play freely, with their competitive spirit. ”
Steve Kerr fears more the prospect of a hat-trick. In 2018/19, and taking as an example “The Last Dance”, the last season of Michael Jordan with the Bulls of which he was a part, he had regularly explained that the third season is the most energy-consuming, the hardest to live.
“When we had the chance to win two in a row, the third year, that’s when we get into the hard part”, he confirms. “That’s when everything catches up with you. Physically, emotionally, psychologically, it’s hard. Every evening, the teams come to pick you up. It’s exhausting being on top and having people beat you down night after night. The third year, it’s a marathon and in the last kilometers, we try to reach the finish line and it’s hard to win like that. “
