"Still time to salvage the season": Steve Kerr puts things into perspective as Warriors return post-Dejan Milojevic's unfortunate demise
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr is ready for his team to turn things around after struggling in the first half of the season. The Warriors were given several days off following the unfortunate death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic on Jan. 17 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In a pregame interview on Wednesday night at the Chase Center, Kerr said aabout how prepared the team is after a rough few days. Milojevic's death certainly affected the team, but they will look to use it as inspiration to make a run in the last 42 games of the regular season.
"It's time to get back out there," Kerr said. "Our guys, they're gonna be ready to play. We know we've got half the season left and still time to salvage the season and get things turned around. That the plan."
Golden State landed in Salt Lake City on Jan. 16 for their game against the Utah Jazz the next day. They held a team dinner at a local restaurant in the city when Dejan Milojevic suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to a medical facility, where he was declared dead the next morning.
The NBA postponed the Warriors game against the Jazz, as well as the matchup with the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 19. The league gave the Warriors plenty of time to recover from traumatic experience, as well as to grieve the death of their beloved assistant coach.
The franchise will honor Milojevic for the rest of the season by having his initials "DM" on the team jerseys and the floor of the Chase Center. The Serbian coach, who helped develop Nikola Jokic, joined Golden State in Aug. 2021.
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Examining Golden State Warriors' prospects to turn their season around
The Golden State Warriors have around 11 weeks to turn their season around after a rough start to the campaign.
It has been a disappointing run for a team that won the championship less than two years ago. There are a lot of reasons why Golden State is playing poorly, but can they turn their season around?
General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. will likely need to make some difficult choices before or at the trade deadline. Dunleavy could opt to improve the team and try to chase a playoff spot or also start rebuilding around his young guys and Steph Curry.
Another option will be to just free up as much money as possible for a potential summer spending free in free agency. Nevertheless, the Warriors' experience is difficult to count out, as well as Curry's greatness. They would at least hope to make it to the play-in tournament and take it there.
One of the keys to turning their season around is Andrew Wiggins, who has been playing poorly this season. They could either package Wiggins for a difference-maker or Steve Kerr could find a way to unlock the 2022 version of the one-time All-Star.
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