Sports can break your heart. John Schneider knows this better than most.
Last November, his Toronto Blue Jays fell one game short of a World Series championship, losing Game 7 to the Dodgers in heartbreaking fashion. For months, that loss sat with him. The what-ifs. The replays in his head. The weight of coming so close.
Then, when Schneider returned to his office at Rogers Centre last week, he found an envelope waiting for him. Inside was a handwritten letter from Steve Kerr, the Warriors head coach and nine-time NBA champion.
The two had never met. But Kerr felt compelled to reach out.
"I don't know you," Kerr wrote, "but I felt compelled to reach out after watching your incredible leadership on display during the World Series."
According to The Athletic, the letter was dated November 2, 2025 — the day after Toronto's devastating defeat. It had been sitting on Schneider's desk all winter.
Kerr knows about Game 7 heartbreak. His Warriors blew a 3-1 lead to LeBron James and the Cavaliers in 2016 — one of the most painful losses in NBA history. But Kerr also knows what comes next: His team won the next two championships.
"The pain was real," Kerr wrote to Schneider. "But what always survives through the tough losses is the character and connection of the group. The loss won't define you, but the way you and your guys carried themselves afterwards will."
As Schneider read those words, he said, "I was like 'holy s—.'"
This is what great coaches do. They lift each other up. They understand the burden of leadership, the crushing weight of defeat, and the courage it takes to get back up and try again.
