The Golden State Warriors will begin their title defense without Head Coach Steve Kerr as the team announced on NBA.com that the champion coach will be taking a leave of absence to rehabilitate his back. Kerr underwent back surgery last July to repair a ruptured disc and had a follow-up surgery early in September after suffering from the injury during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, per ESPN.

General manager Bob Myers released a statement, via NBA.com, saying, "At this point, the most important thing is to make sure Steve is healthy, completely recovered and ready for not only the rigors of a long NBA season, but day-to-day life in general. We don't anticipate the recovery process will be long term, but as of today we don't know the exact timeframe. We'll evaluate his progress daily and provide updates as necessary."

"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," Kerr said in the official announcement.

Myers did not put a timetable on Kerr's return date, but a source told ESPN that he may be back in time for the Warriors' home opener on Oct. 27. They will be facing the New Orleans Pelicans at the Oracle Arena wherein the team will unveil the championship banner and players will be presented with their championship rings.

Even the players noticed that something is not right with their head coach. Andrew Bogut told Mercury News, "The first two days of camp, he was flat energy-wise. He didn't really have a chance to stay on his feet long. He was sitting down every 10 minutes, so we knew he wasn't right."

Head assistant coach Luke Walton will take over as interim head coach until Kerr's return. "We'll keep this ship moving in the right direction until our captain can return," Walton said, per Rusty Simmons on Twitter.

"The type of guys we have, I think they'll use the respect they have for him and the fact that he can't be here, they'll use that to make our team better because they won't want to let him down just like he wouldn't want to let them down," the 35-year-old added via Mercury News. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports said on Twitter that part-time consultant Steve Nash could play a bigger role while Kerr is recovering from his injury.

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