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OREM — When Golden State head coach Steve Kerr began fighting back problems during the 2017 season, the Warriors quickly assured him he would have all the time he needed — and then some — to recover, even if it meant sitting out the Dubs’ playoff run.
Mike Brown has taken over for Kerr in the postseason, and Golden State blitzed their first six playoff games in sweeping Portland and taking a 2-0 lead into the Western Conference semifinals at Utah at 6:30 p.m. MDT on Saturday night.
But Kerr wasn’t anywhere to be found.
Back in Utah, an associate and close friend of the reigning Western Conference champion coach was watching. Kerr won’t make the trip to Salt Lake City, according to the Warriors’ PR staff, and he is unlikely to coach against the Jazz. But he will have a friend on the Wasatch Front, quietly rooting for the man, while his new home state cheers against the team he normally leads.
The story of friendship between Kerr and Chris Lemay, who was recently named the head women’s soccer coach at Utah Valley University, goes back to one’s time in front-office management and the other’s sojourn through the semi-professional and amateur ranks of women’s soccer in North America.
The two met when Kerr was the general manager of the Phoenix Suns from 2007-10, and they continued to stay in touch through Kerr's broadcasting role with TNT. Lemay was living in San Diego, he coached at San Diego State and with the San Diego Sea Lions of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (among others), and Kerr’s family lived in the same neighborhood, sending their three children to nearby Torrey Pines High School.
When Lemay took an assistant coaching job with the Cal women’s soccer program, the family saw friendly faces in their neighborhood in the Bay Area: the Kerrs. Steve Kerr eventually led the Warriors, where he's been since 2014, and piloted the winningest regular-season franchise in NBA history in 2016.
“Ironically, I got the job at Cal, and shortly after he got a job at Golden State, so we were neighbors again,” Lemay said. “Steve and I know each other on a personal level but also through his kids.”
Kerr’s son Nick played basketball at Cal, and daughter Maddy played volleyball for the Golden Bears. The two younger Kerrs also frequented Cal women’s soccer matches, supporting their friends, and their father followed the career of an old friend as he rose to associate head coach in 2013.
“He was a reference, both personally and as a coach,” Lemay said. “He’s a great person and has a great family, and we’re happy to be friends with him.”
Kerr can even claim part of the credit for Lemay’s first head coaching job in NCAA Division I. A former assistant with the Aztecs, UC Riverside and several SoCal youth clubs, Lemay was 51-22-11 with four NCAA Tournament appearances with the Golden Bears, and he helped coach 14 all-Pac 12 honorees.
When Lemay, a native of Michigan, needed a reference, Kerr gave Utah Valley something different — in addition to numerous Pac 12 coaches and National Women’s Soccer League players that endorsed him to be the Wolverines’ fourth head coach in program history.
“Chris is a fantastic coach who connects with his players, both on and off the field,” Kerr wrote. “Players love playing for him. He’s going to be highly successful.”
After wrapping up the Wolverines’ spring exhibition schedule, Lemay is focused on the recruiting trail and trying to take the 2015 NCAA Tournament debutants back to the postseason.
“I want this team to represent the university in the national tournament,” he said. “And the schedule is good this year, and we will schedule the best possible opponents possible.”
Of course, he also has time for basketball — and an old friend.
While he can’t promise his players a personal visit from Steph Curry, he can promise that any time Kerr and the Warriors play in Utah, he’ll be looking for extra tickets — even any that are to be found among the near-sellout crowd this weekend at Vivint Arena.
“I’m excited for when the Golden State Warriors come play the Jazz,” Lemay said. “We’ll be at the game. I’ll commit to that — not the team, but I will go to the game.”
