When the Warriors officially announced that they had signed Steve Kerr to a five-year, $25 million deal as head coach, people did not have any particularly strong reaction.
At the time, everyone was immersed in the fierce conference finals battles. Who had the mind to care about a team that had been eliminated so early?
Other than Warriors fans, no one cared who the Warriors had hired as their new head coach. Whether they chose Kerr or Van Gundy, people were indifferent.
But when Link saw the news, he frowned. He was the only person in the world who knew that a brand-new era was about to begin.
Steve Kerr joining the Warriors was a landmark and a turning point in NBA history.
Before that, Steve Kerr had not been anything extraordinary, and the Golden State Warriors had not been a major force in the league. While most teams had tried to make changes, their styles still lay somewhere between traditional and modern basketball.
But after Kerr joined the Warriors, everything would change. In the future, the league's style of play and its entire landscape would undergo earth-shaking transformations.
The line between the future and the present was just that blurred.
Link shook his head and stopped thinking about that messy stuff.
Right now, what he needed to consider was not the future, but the San Antonio Spurs.
A few days earlier, after the series shifted to San Antonio, the Spurs had indeed put up a stiff resistance. Just like in the 2007-08 season, they rediscovered their rhythm at home.
On May 25, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs finally pulled one back with a 107-102 win, making the series score 2-1.
It was also the Grizzlies' first loss after a month of playoff basketball.
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