Steve Kerr was a fit 49-year-old former professional athlete who regularly golfed and surfed. Then his back started bothering him.

The Golden State Warriors had recently won the 2015 NBA championship when their coach found himself in excruciating pain. It became so bad that Mr. Kerr struggled to walk. He decided to undergo surgery to repair a ruptured disk. Now he regrets it.

“If you have a back problem, stay away from surgery,” Steve Kerr, now 51, said to reporters in April. “I can say that from the bottom of my heart. Rehab, rehab, rehab.”

-The Wall Street Journal May 13, 2017. http://ow.ly/i/uWvv7