Steve Kerr Signed a Two-Year Extension to Stay as Warriors Coach: Here’s Why It Makes Sense
Steve Kerr told ESPN he was 95% sure he was walking away. Then he changed his mind, signed a two-year deal, and returned as the highest-paid coach in the NBA. The basketball world spent about a week convinced the Kerr era in Golden State was finished. Turned out it was barely a pause.
The decision to come back wasn’t driven purely by basketball. Kerr’s wife made the point that stuck with him: he might coach again someday, but he would never coach the Golden State Warriors again. After five championships and a run that will go down as one of the great coaching tenures in league history, walking away felt like leaving something unfinished.
The Warriors missed the playoffs for the second time in three years this past season, finishing as the 10th seed in the West and losing to Phoenix in the play-in. That’s not the kind of exit Kerr wants on his resume. He’s built his legacy on winning at the highest level, and right now the Warriors are in a transitional phase that he clearly believes he can help navigate.
Steph Curry isn’t going anywhere yet, and as long as Curry is in a Warriors uniform, the organization has reason to believe they can compete. Kerr has said he wants to get back to the Finals with this group. That’s an ambitious goal given where the roster currently sits, but nobody should bet against Kerr finding a way to maximize what he has.
The financial terms reflect how much the Warriors value him. Highest-paid coach in the NBA, annually. The Warriors need to make real moves this offseason to give Kerr something to work with. The window with Curry is closing. Kerr knows it. Two more seasons to make another run feels like a calculated bet that this group has one more strong run left in it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
