Because the #8 BEIL is typically calm, quiet, and collected, they don’t often come across as proud, arrogant people. As for the #6 BEIR, it can go both ways, with some being big blabber mouths (ala Shaquille O’Neal), and others (more of the majority) as quiet and intense (ala Larry Bird). At any rate, the winningest team in the NBA this year is the Golden State Warriors, who are 15-0 for the season. Luke Walton (#6 BEIR) has been their interim coach thus far while Steve Kerr (#8 BEIL) has been out with painful complications from his first back surgery. Over the past couple weeks, people are asking, “Who is the better coach?”
As for Walton and Kerr, it hasn’t been much of a question. Rather, they “are engaged in a brutal war of deferential humility,” with Walton saying he’s just been carrying out Kerr’s well-laid plans and Kerr saying Luke should take the credit. “I think it’s ridiculous,” Kerr told ESPN.com. “I’m sitting in the locker room and watching the games on TV, and I’m not even traveling to most of the road games. Luke’s doing all the work with the rest of the staff. Luke is 15-0 right now. I’m not. So it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, to be honest with you. I don’t even understand it.”
To be sure, both the #6 and #8 can make excellent coaches (think of #6 Jerry Sloan or #8 Johnny Wooden). Even Kobe Bryant (#2 BEAR) saw promise in Walton years back, saying recently, “I told him he was the next Phil Jackson (#16 BCIL) because he was an average player with a messed-up back … I used to rib him all the time about that. But honestly he always had a really brilliant mind and understanding flow and tempo and spacing and how to manage a team the right way. I couldn’t be any happier for him.”
Kerr describes Luke as “quick to smile” and “quick to crack a joke,” as well as being “laid-back.” To be sure, he likely got a bit of that humor from Papa Bill Walton, another #6 BEIR (who’s definitely developed an outgoing public persona since his younger days), who can still be seen and heard on television commentating on basketball games and giving his frank, cutting, and oftentimes hilarious opinions.
Good job, Luke! Good job, Steve! You both deserve credit! Oh, and you too, Stephen Curry (#13 FCIR)!
Written by: Staff
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Kobe is correct about Walton. He may not have been a star player due to limited athleticism, etc., but he was a really smart player; Mom and I remember him well in that regard. Not surprised he is making a good coach filling in for Kerr. #6 is unique in that they can coach basketball about as well as they can play. The only other BT that is similar in that respect is #15, the best of the Left brain types among players, although #15 is better-suited to coaching football than basketball, historically.
And how about Curry? Is there any doubt that Steve Nash has been a huge boost to him this season in teaching even better offensive tactics? Curry always was a very good player, but working with the Warriors system, and now Nash added to the mix, has elevated his game even further. His good health, pliable motor skills, good coaching system, and good value system all make for the best basketball we have perhaps ever seen from a #13 guard. (As a side note, as the game becomes even more speed- and footwork-oriented, #13 – especially when gifted with good athletic genes – has an advantage in lateral quickness over historically dominant basketball BTs #6 and #2. Perhaps no type is benefitting more from “analytics” on the court than them. We will continue to see fewer #2 and #6 BTs excelling in b-ball, at least to the extent they once did, if the game continues this route for awhile.)