Transcriptions from Golden State Warriors practice below. Prior to practice, Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson of The Athletic revealed that James Wiseman had suffered another setback in his rehab from a torn meniscus, with the surgically repaired right knee showing signs of swelling. Steve Kerr, Moses Moody and Jordan Poole pick it up from there.
Please excuse any typos or errors, don’t mind the timestamp and other notes as those are part of my workflow for the YouTube channel. If you’re a diehard fan and are crazy enough to watch all the full interview videos, you’ll find them below the Kerr transcript.
STEVE
1:04 • When did Wiseman’s swelling first come up? “Yesterday he didn’t practice and both yesterday and today our training staff put its head together with the doctors that have been working with James. Basically the decision was let’s take a pause because of the swelling in the knee. 🚨 I feel terrible for James. The hope was that he would play in tomorrow in Santa Cruz. That’s not gonna happen. I will just keep going back to the fact that he’s twenty years old and he’s got his whole future ahead. We’re just have to be really really cautious. We have to do what’s best for him long term. So no game tomorrow. He probably won’t go on the trip with us. We’ll take a pause and we’ll see how the knee responds and we’ll go from there.”
0:56 • At what point do you decide to just shut him down for the season? “Yeah that’s all up to the training staff and the doctors. The main thing is we can’t make a decision based on the schedule. We can’t make a decision based on the playoffs. Every decision should be made around James’ career, James’ future. 🚨 Our training staff will make decisions in terms of what James does, how much he does, when he can be on the floor, those questions will all be based on his long term health.”
0:32 • Have you had any conversations about that with the training staff? “No. At this point, just as I’ve been saying for the last month or so, we’re literally just taking everything day by day, avoiding any long term projections. So I can’t tell you what’s gonna happen in a week but when we go on the road James is most likely gonna stay here and we’ll see where it goes.
0:30 • When did the knee first swell up? “Yesterday was — we had the day off two days ago and I believe — was that the night that he played in Santa Cruz? [Note: Wiseman played with Santa Cruz on Tuesday, the night before the Celtics game.] Anyways, yesterday was the first time that it was brought to my attention, in the last couple of days, basically.”
0:44 • How is James handling it? “He’s understandably disappointed. What he’s been through the last year, it’s unfair. 🚨 He deserves better. He’s just such a great young man, works so hard, cares about his career, cares about the game, cares about his teammates and wants to be out there and, again, we just have to make really smart decisions with his future in mind and we’re not gonna do anything that would compromise that.”
0:43 • Had you gotten to a point where you were projecting how you would use him once he got back? “No. I think I was asked that a couple times, both media sessions and kinda behind the scenes and honestly with the way things have gone over the last — well, I was gonna say the last month but really the whole season with this team — every week something new comes up so we don’t really spend that much time on contingency plans. We just deal with the today and make decisions accordingly.”
1:08 • Do you think Poole can emulate some of the gravity that Steph brings? “I would hesitate to compare Jordan or anybody to Steph in that regard, just because Steph is the greater shooter in the history of the game. What Jordan can do is he can play on and off the ball which Is a really key trait in a player. It makes a player so much more valuable when you can play on or off the ball. I make baseball analogies all the time. It’s like a guy who hits for average and hits for power. 🚨 Everything he’s on the floor there’s different ways you can attack, different ways you can use him. So that’s really important. But you’re talking about Steph Curry. The way Jordan has shot over the last couple weeks, he’s looked s as lot like Steph but there’s a long way to go before we start making that comparison.”
1:25 • Is there an emphasis to ending the homestand on a high note? “Yeah we always talk about the getaway game where my old coach Cotton Fitzsimmons my rookie year in Phoenix, he talked about that all the time, the getaway game being crucial. 🚨 When you go on the road, that last home game, you wanna win that one, pocket that one and get some momentum for the road. So very important game. We need to bring it. We’ve emphasized these last two days in practice that we’ve got to return to being one of the best defensive teams in the league. That’s the mindset. That’s where the work is being focused. We had two great days of practice. Really pleased with the attention to detail, with Draymond’s leadership, with the focus. So I’m excited. I think we have a chance to go out and play a great game tomorrow, head out on the road and lock in on these last eleven or twelve games with the prospect that we get Steph Curry back, head into the playoffs on a high note and feeling great about ourselves.”
0:09 • Gary and Andrew’s status? “Andrew for sure, Gary will be questionable.”
MOODY
0:17 • How have you seen Wiseman recently? “It’s been good knowing how much work he’s put in, how bad he wanted to play, how (inaudible) gotten taken away for a second time like (inaudible) in college, to be working through that and to be on his way back is great to see.”
0:43, 4 • How are you feeling? “Oh yeah I’m feeling good. Yeah I’m ready to go. 🚨 Just building the strength back up and whenever they clear me to play.”
• Exactly what happened? It happened before? “Yeah it happened in summer league one time but I just tweaked my shoulder a little bit but it’s all good.”
• What can’t you do at this stage? “I feel like I’m good to do anything.” 🚨
• How long do you think you’ll be out? “I honestly don’t know. It’s up to the training staff and all that about tomorrow but if they clear me to play tomorrow, I’m good to play.”
0:36 • What do you expect from yourself throughout the rest of the season, especially with guys out? “Steph is obviously a big key to the team so everybody’s gonna have to step up and I feel like it’s time for me to follow suit, step up, take on a little bit more. 🚨 Everybody’s gonna have to increase their role a little bit to compensate for that absence…”
1:08 • What have guys told you about the playoffs? “Everybody’s told me a lot of different things…at the end of the day it’s basketball…I’ve been doing it for a long time…Avery Bradley 🚨 had a good thing he told me at preseason…in summer league it’s no nothing like preseason, in preseason it’s nothing like regular season and the regular season is nothing like the playoffs and the playoffs is nothing like the Finals. So me being in this position going into all of those new chapters, I’m gonna do the same thing I did…just be open and learn.”
0:27 • Is there a playoff mode vibe? “There’s been a couple games where I might be sitting over there and somebody like Juan and DLee told me and said the Denver game just saying it’s a playoff atmosphere. And whenever they say that that kinda raises my antennas up to really pay attention and embrace that and see what it feels like before we actually get there.”
0:44, 2 • How is that different from college? “I’m not an expert at college either (laughs).”
• But you made a bunch of runs. “Yeah we did that last year and COVID and everything so that was all different but that was another thing that my college coach would say. You got four seasons in college. You got preseason, regular season, conference and then March Madness. I would say they’re probably similar in that aspect but I don’t have much to compare it to given I haven’t been to the playoffs.”
0:16 • Are you confident that Jordan Poole can lead the team in Steph’s absence? “Yeah, JP’s stepped up numerous times throughout the season. You see that he can do it and is willing to do it, so I’m definitely confident in him.”
POOLE
0:51, 2 • How has practice been especially with Andrew coming back? “Just trying to pick it up as best as we can for the playoffs and try to bring as much energy to practice and in the games as we possibly can to get going.”
• What do you think the return of Wiggins can bring you guys? “Definitely excited to have Wiggs back for sure. He’s a big part of our team, offensively, defensively. He’s an All Star player and you need players like that to go a long way and make a run so we’re excited to have him back and continue to put him in positions to be aggressive so he can help us win games.”
0:23 • GP2’s versatility: “It’s huge. Obviously we want him to get healthy right now. He just transforms our defense. He gives us so much energy. He brings a different dynamic to our team so being able to have somebody who can cover in and make an impact like him helps us a lot.”
0:25 • Describe your chemistry with Klay: “We’re still working on it. It feels pretty good though getting him in positions where he can just get easy looks or get easy shots. We obviously know what he’s capable of going out there and 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 threes a night. We’re just gonna continue to play through him and keep going.”
0:46, 2 • Stepping up without Steph: “Just go out there and play my game. Just do what I’ve been doing all year and then just find ways to put this team in position to win games.”
• How do you stay so even keel? “Through highs, the lows, I told you, I just be chillin’. That’s really all there is to it. I don’t get too rattled about too much. You miss a lot of more important stuff out here going on than the regular daily basketball problems we got going on so just kinda be appreciative and grateful of the situation that I’m in and show my gratitude whenever I can and just keep pushing.”
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