Steve Kerr will return to coach Game 2 of the NBA Finals

Steve Kerr will return to head coaching the Golden State Warriors in Game 2, he announced on Sunday. It is his first game back on the sidelines since Game 3 of the first round, and he intends to coach for the remainder of the NBA Finals, according to cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. Kerr, who has been dealing with health problems after a 2015 back surgery had complications, says he is finally feeling good enough to resume his normal coaching duties.

During his absence, the Warriors relied on Mike Brown to coach the team. The Warriors’ lead assistant kept the team undefeated through its first 13 playoff games and has them up 1-0 in the NBA Finals. Brown, who was hired with this possible scenario in mind, has coached LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in his career, and is actually still being paid by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was a seamless fit to lead the Warriors in Kerr’s absence.

However, Kerr is still responsible for a huge amount of what the Warriors have built since he arrived in 2014, and having him back is a good thing for Golden State. It’s also a great thing to Kerr himself, seeing that he is healthy enough to step back onto the court and resume the stressful job. Last time Kerr missed time, he sat out the first 45 games of the 2015-16 season.

Kerr underwent another back procedure about a month ago that has put him on the path to recovery. At the time, it looked possible that Kerr would miss the entire postseason. We can all be grateful that wasn’t the case, as fun as it is to see Brown back in the spotlight. Case in point: this Ramona Shelburne feature on the man, who is effortlessly cool.

Even if Kerr hadn’t return to the sidelines for Game 2, he has still been actively involved with the team behind the scenes and traveling with them regularly. But nobody can complain that he’s stepping back on the sidelines now.