Athletes love their Jesus, don't they? So often you hear players thanking the Lord, organizing team prayers... If Jesus has a home in America, it's inside a professional locker room.

One team that embraced Jesus were the Golden State Warriors. Head coach Mark Jackson had a rah-rah approach that bonded the team with Christianity. And it seemed to work, as the downtrodden franchise made back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in two decades.

And then, Jackson was fired. Oh, there were many reasons: behind the scenes, the team was a complete mess. Assistant coaches were mysteriously fired in mid-season. Back rooms were filled with drama. Jackson antagonized many around him. And then there was Jesus. The San Francisco Bay Area is notoriously dogma-free; many, including Jewish owner Joe Lacob, were not exactly amused with Jackson's approach.

So, Lacob fired Jackson and replaced him with Steve Kerr, who is not exactly religious. The new coach turned the Warriors from a just-above-average team into the league's best.

Is it because Lacob and Kerr removed Christianity from the locker room? Let's quote baseball player Will Clark: "You'd better get out there and do it yourself. The Lord didn't hang that slider."