Three years ago, entering his first season as the Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr tried to map out which days to rest his core players.
“I thought I was being really smart,” Kerr recalled before Tuesday night’s game against Miami.
As that maiden season unfolded, Kerr recognized his own naiveté: It is impossible to predict when someone will need a night off. Developments like Tuesday’s, when Kerr rested Klay Thompson after watching Thompson play through illness the previous two games, are just part of the randomness that comes with the NBA grind.
It marked the first time this season Kerr had given one of his four core players — Thompson, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green — a night off.