Kerr's Coach of the Year victory breaks number of templates

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Programming note: Watch Steve Kerr's Coach of the Year press conference today at 1:30pm on CSN Bay Area, and streaming live right here.

So you don’t have to look this up (because I know you will), Steve Kerr is not the first Coach Of The Year to not coach an entire season. His victory in this baffling category, then, makes so little sense in so many ways.

But let’s be honest – nothing about his coaching career makes a lot of sense.

[RELATED: Steve Kerr wins 2015-16 NBA Coach of the Year]

In being named the NBA 2016 Coach of the Year, he was credited for finishing a job that he had involuntarily left for another at the start of the season. He got official credit for games he never saw in person. And weirdest of all, he exceeded expectations (the only real criterion for this award) in only one arcane way – by coaching a great team to a great record while coping with a headache that has lasted nearly a year.

And frankly, that’s a better reason to give this award than the usual.

Kerr was the actual in-the-flesh coach for wins 40 through 73, and losses 5 through 9. Before that, Luke Walton was his proxy in all ways but official, which is why Kerr’s victory is a bit surprising. It is also an acknowledgement of what he helped build in Oakland, but that isn’t supposed to count in the bestowal of the Coach of the Year award.

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He becomes the second coach in American pro basketball history to “replace” someone and win the award. The other is Joe Belmont of the 1970 Denver Rockets, the ABA team that was eventually absorbed by the NBA as the Nuggets. Belmont replaced the fired John McLendon, a Basketball Hall of Famer himself, and guided the Nuggets to a 42-14 record and a postseason record despite having only two players, rookie Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood and longtime center Byron Beck, that anyone ever heard of, then or now.

But only 10 of the last 30 COYs finished the regular season with the best record, and only two (Phil Jackson in 1996 and Gregg Popovich in 2014) ended up winning the title. In short, this is an award that says everything about whom the voters thought exceeded the limitations of the job handed them, and nothing about raw numbers or jewelry.

Thus, Kerr’s victory breaks a number of templates. The Warriors were expected to be the best team, which should have eliminated Kerr for someone like Dwane Casey of Toronto, Steve Clifford of Charlotte, Brad Stevens of Boston or Terry Stotts of Portland.

They were not, however, expected to need two coaches for the reason they did, which meant that he exceeded expectations. Of course, Walton exceeded them even more, given that he had less coaching experience than even Kerr.

So maybe Steve Kerr got a trophy that the established protocols say belong to his assistant, who may or may not seek (and obtain) his fortune elsewhere. Or maybe he got credit for coaching with pain, or building the structure that allowed for record-breaking success even though he was an involved passenger for half of it.

And maybe when he achieves full health again some time this summer, he and Walton can beer up in some state park or beach or family home and fight about it.

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