Coach Steve Kerr knows the Warriors’ 2025-26 NBA season took on an entirely different tone after losing stars Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler to injury and is doing his part to help his team keep its focus.
In an interview Wednesday with 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” show, Kerr responded to a question about his animated reaction to a Kristaps Porziņģis 3-pointer late in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s home loss to the Chicago Bulls by acknowledging Golden State’s need for energy without its two stars.
“I’m just trying to really fire the guys up,” Kerr told hosts Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “We were, I thought, demoralized at times [against Chicago]. The Bulls had a big run at the end of the second quarter and I could just feel the air leaving our balloon.
“Without Steph, without Jimmy I think I have to take on more responsibility, just keeping the guys’ spirits up, that sort of thing. So, that’s probably what you were looking at.”
@nbcsportsauthentic He was feeling himself 😭 #warriors #nba #basketball #dubs #goldenstate ♬ original sound – NBC Sports Bay Area & CA
Curry has missed the last 15 games with a nagging “runner’s knee” injury and will miss at least five more as he continues to work toward a return. Butler, meanwhile, tore his right ACL on Jan. 19, ending his season. The Warriors have not won consecutive games since, leaving Kerr trying everything at his disposal to inject life into the season.
The latest two losses, to the lowly Utah Jazz and Bulls, make that effort even more arduous.
“We had our chances in both games,” Kerr told Willard and Dibley. “[Against Chicago] we absolutely should have closed the game out, up eight with a minute and a half to go. That one is really, really frustrating. But I also am well aware we’re shorthanded.”
Golden State banked enough early-season wins to keep the team a level above the Western Conference’s bottom-feeders and in line for an NBA play-in tournament berth. But as Kerr knows himself, any ceiling beyond that is unlikely without his two best players.
“We’re just at a place where our margin for error is really slim,” Kerr told Willard and Dibley. “Very frustrating, but our guys are playing hard and competing and giving [themselves] a chance every night. But there’s no doubt [Curry and Butler]…we needed them and we didn’t get them, so it puts us in a tough spot.”
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