In the beginning of October, the Warriors announced that head coach, Steve Kerr would take a leave of absence. With preseason approaching, assistant coach, Luke Walton was asked to step in as interim head coach. Kerr was excused as he needed to focus on rehabilitating after undergoing two surgeries.
Kerr underwent his first surgery on July 28 to repair a ruptured disk. During the surgery, the uncommon leak happened. Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN reported that Kerr shared reason for temporarily leaving the team; his spinal fluid leak led to uncomfortable symptoms such as headaches:
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday that a spinal fluid leak led to his leave of absence from the team.
He suffered the leak during his July 28 back surgery on a ruptured disk.
“I had a spinal fluid leak during the first surgery,” he told the media Sunday at the Warriors’ practice facility. “It’s very rare, it does happen occasionally, but it happens when there’s an accidental nick of the dura that surrounds the spinal cord. But I lost spinal fluid, took about a month to figure out what was going on, a lot of headaches, some other symptoms.”
The Warriors have been supportive and want Kerr to take his time as he fully recovers. As of now, there’s no definite time table. While Kerr was awarded the time-off he was often seen at the Warriors practice facilities.
After two preseason games, the Dubs are 1-1 with five games remaining. The season opens on October 27 against the New Orleans Pelicans at 7:30. They will receive their rings and raise the banner at the Oracle Arena.