SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr has seen LeBron James on the world’s stage. As an opposing head coach for the Golden State Warriors – going head to head against the now-41 year old’s Cleveland Cavaliers teams in four consecutive NBA Finals – and as his coach, leading James internationally at the Olympics as an assistant in 2020 and as the head coach in 2024.
On Saturday night, however, James’ Team USA teammate will not be on the floor alongside him. Stephen Curry has been out since Jan. 30 with patella-femoral pain syndrome (otherwise known as runner’s knee) – and the chances to see James face off against Curry, 37, are dwindling as their respective careers near their endpoints.
Kerr, who coached James, Curry and the United States to an Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Games, reflected Saturday afternoon about their chemistry on the floor – arguably the primary two representatives for the post-2000 NBA.
“I just saw how much fun they had, you know, and I didn’t ask either one of them about it, but I suppose it was really nice for them to be teammates, instead of going head to head, which they had so many times and so many high stakes moments,” Kerr said of James and Curry, who played on the same U.S. All-Star squad at the All-Star Game, despite the latter not participating due to his injury.
“And I think it’s one of the best experiences. One of the best parts of that experience, is as Olympians, is these guys who are so used to butting heads throughout the NBA season their whole careers, and then all of a sudden they get to be teammates and play for something together. I just sense that they were both absolutely just thrilled to be teammates for the first time.”
James and the Lakers will visit the Warriors once more in the 2025-26 season on April 9, where Golden State will await the return of their two-time MVP and franchise-leading scorer. Lakers Coach JJ Redick didn’t mince words on the difference between facing a Warriors squad with or without Curry in the mix.
“Steph is his own orbit, or own solar system, and he’s the sun of it,” Redick said. “He’s probably one of, if not the scariest players to coach against or play against.”
‘Square to red’ to stop red-hot shooting
The Phoenix Suns shot 50 attempts from beyond the arc in Thursday night’s defeat, a fact that Redick was less than thrilled as the Lakers lost their third consecutive game after Suns forward Royce O’Neale sank a 3-pointer with less than a second remaining.
Redick said he told his team, before they played Phoenix, that they’ve got to play a full 24 seconds on defense against high-movement and tough teams such as the Suns – and on Saturday, the Golden State Warriors.
“The terminology we use: ‘square to reds,’” Redick said. “There’s a lot of ‘square to reds.’ So, there’s a lot of follow action. There’s a lot of movement and player movement. And so you’ve got to be physical and you got to grab and hold and you got to limit blow-bys and you got to get a contain, you got to sprint back.”
Before tipoff at the Chase Center, Lakers guard Marcus Smart reiterated his coach’s talking points.
“Understanding the game plan that the coaches put together, and going out there and executing it,” Smart said, “and understanding that they’re going to hit some but we can’t lose ourselves over that and start letting that affect everything else.”
Hachimura remains out
The Lakers downgraded forward Rui Hachimura to out for Saturday’s game against the Warriors, the second consecutive game he’s missed due to an illness. Redick said that the Japanese forward remains under the weather, but did not stipulate his availability for Sunday evening’s game back at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings.
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