Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday his leave of absence was prompted by a spinal fluid leak.
Kerr had back surgery July 28 and a subsequent operation.
“I had a spinal fluid leak during the first surgery,” he said Sunday at the Warriors’ practice facility. “It’s very rare, it does happen occasionally, but it happens when there’s an accidental nick of the dura that surrounds the spinal cord. But I lost spinal fluid, took about a month to figure out what was going on, a lot of headaches, some other symptoms.”
Kerr had surgery Sept. 4 to repair the issue.
“The leak if fixed, but still getting some symptoms, but that’s why I’m out,” Kerr said.
Kerr appointed Luke Walton as interim coach and said he is not sure when he’ll return. He met with the media Sunday to erase any “gray area” and end questions about the cause of his absence.
“Unfortunately, it’s not like a sprained ankle, one to two weeks,” Kerr said. “There’s no telling. It’s a little bit open-ended, but everyone’s confident I’m going to be fine. That’s where I am. I’m not going to be put a timetable on when I’m going to come back.”