Steve Kerr Reacts to Warriors' Play-In Game Win with 'Champions' Quote

After the Golden State Warriors overcame a 108-99 fourth-quarter deficit to win 126-121 in Wednesday's play-in game against the LA Clippers, Steve Kerr was feeling like a champion again.

"For one night, we're us," Kerr said. "We're champions again."

The Athletic's Nick Friedell added that Kerr knew how the quote might come off considering this wasn't even a true playoff game. But Kerr didn't care.

The Warriors roared back with four fourth-quarter threes from Al Horford and a Stephen Curry go-ahead three with 50 seconds to go.

Then Draymond Green sealed the game with two steals in the last 50 seconds.

Some Vindication for Curry Returning

Over the last two weeks, there have been plenty people who have questioned why Curry returned after missing 27 games with runner's knee.

After all, the Warriors were under .500, facing a tough road just to make the playoffs, and from there they would play the defending champion Thunder.

The sentiment from these people makes sense. Risking reinjuring the knee could be considered reckless, though I'm no doctor, and it's not clear how much risk there really is.

Nonetheless, had Curry shut it down, nobody would've questioned it.

By authoring another clutch performance with stakes, Curry just put juice back into the whole franchise.

You have to believe this performance has all of their free agents more likely to return. I'm not saying it's guaranteed to be a deciding factor, but it will at least be a factor.

Kerr offered his thoughts on Curry's return after the game.

"This is why Steph came back," Kerr said. "Everyone out there who thought Steph should take the rest of the year off…*bangs table*…this is what he does."

Kerr's Future Continues to Be a Storyline

Kerr is not under contract for next season, and he hasn't tipped what he's planning to do. He might not even know what he's going to do.

He has previously said that he "will never leave Steph Curry," and considering Curry is under contract for one more season, it stands to reason that Kerr will come back for one more year.

But it's also possible he's ready to move on, in which case his reflective quotes would make even more sense.

Before the game, Kerr said, “This is an opportunity we might not ever get again. We don’t know. We’re all at that stage where we have to be conscious of the finality that is possible. It’s just sort of unspoken.”

In any event, Kerr has had an amazing Warriors tenure. In 12 seasons, he has six Finals appearances and four titles.

We'll see if he's back for more after this Golden State run ends.

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