Warriors head coach Steve Kerr taking a leave of absence to recover from back surgery

The Golden State Warriors have announced that their head coach Steve Kerr is taking a leave of absence to rehab his back following surgery this offseason.

The Warriors don't know an exact timetable for his return, but GM Bob Myers said in the Warriors statement that they don't believe it will be a long process.

Kerr had two back surgeries in the offseason, and according to the Warriors statement, realized early in training camp that he wasn't ready to get back to coaching full-time.

Kerr said:

"After the first two days of training camp, I realized I need to take a step back and focus on my rehabilitation in order to be ready for the grind of another NBA season. As I noted last week, my summer was difficult and no fun due to the multiple back surgeries. At this point, I simply want to get healthy and back to my normal daily routine on and off the court."

How this will affect the Warriors is unknown. Kerr came roaring out of the gates in his first season ever coaching, leading the Warriors to a 68-15 record and winning the NBA championship while finishing second in coach of the year voting.

Assistant coach Luke Walton will coach the team in Kerr's absence.