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NBA FINALS: WARRIORS VS. RAPTORS

May 29, 2019

Steve Kerr

Toronto, Ontario - Practice Day

Q. Are there any new medical updates with Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins? And what they can do moving forward?
STEVE KERR: No, Kevin is, I think we already announced he's not playing in Game 1. His next step is individual court work, so that will be the next priority over the next couple of days. Hopefully he can wrap that up, and then he's going to have to practice. We have to see him in practice before he can play a game, and he hasn't practiced yet.

Q. Have you decided yet on Cousins tomorrow, and then are you thinking about yet how you might use him?
STEVE KERR: DeMarcus has done an amazing job coming back from the injury, which we felt at the time was season-ending. He's done an incredible job of rebounding, rehabbing. Now here he is, he's scrimmaged a couple times this week. He's pain-free. So it's really more a matter of rhythm and timing and conditioning, all those things.

I think I mentioned the other day, if this were the regular season, I would throw him out there and he would play whatever minutes he could tolerate and we would build him up from there. This is not the regular season. This is The Finals. So we have to figure out what's the best way to utilize him, how many minutes can he play, what the game feels like, what the matchups are like. Some of that will be determined by what's happening in the game, and the other stuff is just internal with our staff.

Q. Is he active for sure in Game 1?
STEVE KERR: It hasn't been decided yet.

Q. You've been asked and have answered about just the differences this series against after four previous against the same team, same city. But now that you're here, new team, starting on the road, new city, does it begin to hit you how different it does feel in the series?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, it's very different. And it's exciting. Toronto has always been a favorite stop, a favorite city of mine and I think a lot of people in the NBA. It's a great crowd. I think going way back before I was even coach of the Warriors, when I was doing TV the two arenas that I felt were just the most electric were Oracle and here. And you could tell that there was just kind of this organic love and energy and passion for basketball in both places, because neither team was that good, and yet the arenas were filled and there was so much excitement. And I think that the sense now that we have as a team is we can understand, we can feel how important this is to the whole country.

So it's a different vibe. It's a different feeling. It's exciting. It's great for the game. Different for us obviously, having been in Cleveland four straight years, but this is more the rule. That was the exception. You're not supposed to go to The Finals four straight years and you're definitely not, if you're lucky enough to do that, you're not supposed to play the same team four straight years. So that was really an oddity. This is more what The Finals normally feel like, where you're going against a team you frankly don't know that well and that you haven't seen that often over the previous few years.

Q. I know it's a few years back, what do you remember about how Kawhi Leonard was performing in that Game 1 before he injured himself against you guys and how has he, based on the video you've seen, how has he grown as somebody you have to game plan to slow down since then?
STEVE KERR: Well that was, I believe, 2017. He was having a great game. The Spurs were kicking our butts. They were up 23 points. They were having their way with us. But in terms of how Kawhi has grown, I don't know, he was Finals MVP in 2014. So five years later he's probably a little bit older and wiser. He's definitely older. I think he's wiser. I think he's seen more. As you get older in your career, especially as a great player like he is, you see more and more coverages. You see how different people play you. So he's probably a little more rounded as a player, more aware of how teams are trying to play him.

But no matter how you slice it he's been a superstar in this league, one of the top few players in the game for five, six years now.

Q. This postseason we have seen Draymond get into incredible shape, and we have also heard him talk about not complaining and then stuff like this. Is this a more mature version of him, and how has that played out this postseason?
STEVE KERR: He's been great on and off the floor. His leadership has been great. He lost some weight and got himself in much better condition over the last couple months. You can just see it. Watching the two Toronto games on tape that we played, I think one of them he missed, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe he played both. [Green missed the first game against the Raptors.]

But he's a different guy. He looks different. He's slimmer and sleeker and faster, and I think that confidence has allowed him to be more poised on the floor. When you're playing well and you're feeling good about yourself, it's easier to sort of maintain your emotions. I think there was some frustration earlier in the year when he wasn't playing as well. He's such a passionate, competitive guy that some of those frustrations came out. But you're seeing the best of Draymond right now. He's in great condition, an unbelievably high level of play and very poised. It all, to me, it all ties together.

Q. In what ways do you see how Kyle Lowry has put his imprint on this team? And you're going against him, you've seen him over the years, what about this team kind of fits his personality and his game?
STEVE KERR: Well, he's tough. That's the thing that jumps out at you when you watch Kyle is he's a leader and he's tough, physically and mentally. I think he's in a perfect role where he can lead without having to be the best player. They have the continuity now of having this team around him, and then you add Kawhi, the superstar. Now I think Kyle can be in the perfect role for himself and for his team, which is point guard, leader. He can step up and have big games when he has to, but he's not relied on for that scoring night in and night out.

So it seems to me he's really thrived this year with Kawhi next to him.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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