McGraw: Warriors' Adams praised by Thibodeau, Kerr

Shortly before tipoff Saturday night, Derrick Rose hustled down the sideline and clamped a bear hug on Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams.

Adams left the Bulls more than a year ago, but he was a popular topic of conversation before the Bulls-Warriors contest.

After being let go by the Bulls, Adams spent last season in Boston, then joined Steve Kerr's staff with Golden State, which left the United Center with a league-best 17-2 record.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and Adams have been close friends for more than 20 years, since being hired to work together on Jerry Tarkanian's staff in San Antonio.

"He's one of the top five coaches in this league, period," Thibodeau said before the game. "He's a great coach, on both sides of the ball, not just defense. He's a great teacher, a great leader, communicator. He's had all kind of experiences."

When last season ended, Rose and Joakim Noah approached Bulls management and asked to bring back Adams, according to a league source. It didn't happen, and Adams became a good fit with Kerr.

"Ron has been fantastic," Kerr said. "I really wanted to balance our staff out with experience on both sides of the ball. Alvin (Gentry) is sort of our offensive coordinator and Ron is our defensive guy. They both have such a wealth of experience in this league. They've seen everything."

Warriors owner Joe Lacob indirectly endorsed Kerr's hiring decisions when speaking at a luncheon earlier this week.

"(Kerr) did the one big thing I wanted more than anything else from (ex-coach) Mark Jackson, who just wouldn't do, in all honesty, which is hire the very best," Lacob said, according to InsideBayArea.com. "Carte blanche. Take my wallet. Do whatever it is to get the best assistants there are in the world. Period. End of story."

Kerr was asked before the game if he appreciated how Adams isn't shy about expressing his opinion, which may be a big reason he's no longer working in Chicago.

"One of the things I wanted was a truth-teller," Kerr said. "I wanted somebody who's not afraid to say, 'Boy, you screwed that up. You better do it this way.' That's Ron. Ron will tell it like it is.

"We've had our dust-ups, in a very productive way. We don't agree on everything, but we have a ton of respect for each other and we enjoy each other's company. So really, I couldn't ask for anything more."