Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr Takes Leave of Absence For Back Surgery Recovery

On Thursday, the Golden State Warriors announced that head coach Steve Kerr will be taking an indefinite leave of absence to continue his recovery from his 2015 offseason back injury.

As reported by NBA.com, during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Kerr ruptured a disk in his back.Over the summer, the Warriors coach underwent two surgeries on his back. Kerr initially had one surgery in Los Angeles to repair the ruptured disk back in July. But due to several complications, a second surgery was required during the first week of September.

During the team's training camp and media day, his pain was clear.

"After the first two days of training camp," Kerr said in a statement, as per ESPN. "I realized I need to take a step back and focus on my rehabilitation in order to be ready for the grind of another NBA season. As I noted last week, my summer was difficult and no fun due to the multiple back surgeries. At this point, I simply want to get healthy and back to my normal daily routine on and off the court."

According to CBS Sports, after discussing the issue with general manager Bob Myers on Wednesday, Kerr decided that it was in his and the team's best interest for him to step away and better himself so he could be ready for the regular season. Lead assistant Luke Walton is reported to serve as interim head coach. 

"At this point, the most important thing is to make sure Steve is healthy," Myers said in a statement, as per ESPN. "Completely recovered and ready for not only the rigors of a long NBA season but also day-to-day life in general. We don't anticipate the recovery process will be long term, but as to today we don't know the exact time frame. We'll evaluate his progress daily and provide updates as necessary."

Hopefully Kerr will be in full health prior to the start of the season on October 27.