SAN FRANCISCO • Steve Kerr is teaching. And learning.
That is his silver lining from this washout season.
After five consecutive years of being No. 1 in the Western Conference - and ending up as National Basketball Association (NBA) champions in three of those seasons - the Warriors are at the bottom of the league (5-23). They are even more abject than the New York Knicks (6-21), the worst team by record over the last 20 seasons with a 0.414 winning percentage.
Things got comically bad on Sunday night as the Sacramento Kings came away with a 100-79 blowout road win at the Chase Centre despite the hosts forcing 29 turnovers from the visitors.
Warriors coach Kerr was at a loss to explain their meltdown, telling The Athletic: "It's almost impossible to do that. It shows you how poorly we played. Our decision making was awful."
Draymond Green, the only still active All-Star player from the team's heyday, agreed, telling ESPN that "we suck in every way shape and form".
Everyone knows why.
Kevin Durant got hurt before departing for the Brooklyn Nets, Stephen Curry got hurt, Klay Thompson got hurt, Shaun Livingston retired, Andre Iguodala got traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, DeMarcus Cousins left for the Los Angeles Lakers... it goes on and on.
"You can't have worse luck than they've had," Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford said.
But to Kerr's credit, the Warriors are desperate to make the best of their situation as they look set to return to the NBA draft lottery for the first time since 2012.
This will be a losing season for the former Chicago Bulls guard, his first in more than 25 years.
He was a winner almost every year as a player, a winner in each of his three seasons as an executive in Phoenix, a huge winner in his first five seasons as coach.
And next year - with Curry back, Thompson back, a top-five lottery pick likely, plus new faces that the Warriors will be able to add when some money frees up - he could be a championship contender again.
What Kerr is going through this season will make him ready for next year and beyond.
"I've learnt how to be a better coach, honestly," he said. "I haven't had to coach (in) a situation like this and it's a good reminder every circumstance is different, every year is different.
"The last five years, we've been a championship contender, so it meant I had to manage the team through the season, prepare for the play-offs and try to get guys rest when we could.
"This is much more about teaching and developing young players."
Kerr lost 15 games in his first regular season with the Warriors, but this term, they have long passed that mark - and there is still just under two-thirds of the campaign left.
Golden State were not planning to push the reset button this season but found themselves with no choice.
"It's the way of life in pro sports, unless you are the (National Football League Super Bowl champions New England) Patriots," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Everybody else, you have to, at some point, recalibrate - which they will."
The basketball is abject at the moment. But when the Warriors are truly back, Kerr will be even better prepared for whatever challenges they face.
"I'm lucky. I've got a great staff," he said. "And I'm learning a lot myself. It's a good dynamic for my own career, to go through this and to feel it."
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