Gentry expects Kerr back on opening night: 'Trust me on that one. He'll be back'

The first game of the 2015-16 season promises to be a doozy, wrought with excitement, complexity, and intrigue.

On Oct. 27, the defending champion Golden State Warriors will receive their rings, unveil a banner, and host the up-and-coming New Orleans Pelicans, who they swept out of the first round of last season's playoffs. Reigning MVP Steph Curry will go up against future MVP Anthony Davis. All the while, on the Pelicans bench, former Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry will gameplan to slow down the whirring offense he himself helped engineer.

Whether his old boss will be on the opposite sideline is yet to be determined. Warriors coach Steve Kerr is on a leave of absence after undergoing his second back surgery of the offseason, and the team is unsure whether he'll be back in time for opening night.

Gentry, though, has no such uncertainty.

Before leading them to the franchise's first title in 40 years, Kerr coached the Warriors to 67 regular-season wins - the most ever for a rookie head coach.