From left, Warriors coaches Kris Weems, Jerry Stackhouse, Steve Kerr and Terry Stotts plot strategy during a game at Chase Center on Nov. 25, 2024.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
Steve Kerr has the second-longest tenure among NBA head coaches, having held that job with the Golden State Warriors for 12 seasons, which trails only Erik Spoelstra’s 18-year run with the Miami Heat. For the moment.
“It may go on,” Kerr said last Friday after his team’s play-in tournament loss to the Phoenix Suns. “It may not. I don’t know at this point. But we all need to step away and reconvene.”
Kerr and the Warriors are weighing a future that may not keep them together next season, ending an association that produced four titles, should they not agree on another contract. Plucked in 2014 by Golden State from the broadcast booth as a first-time head coach, Kerr has proved an all-time great as one of the faces of the franchise and the league.
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A prospective replacement is set to inherit an accomplished but aging, expensive roster that went 37-45 in 2025-26 amid injuries to Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler and a drop-off in performance for Draymond Green. If the Warriors and Kerr part ways, here’s where they may find his replacement:
Former NBA head coaches: Controlling owner Joe Lacob bucked conventional wisdom hiring Kerr, who had been the Suns general manager (in addition to winning five championships as a player) but hadn’t coached in the NBA. His energy and fresh perspective matched Golden State’s promise and youth, but a veteran coach with veteran experience might make a match for this veteran group.
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There are veteran head coaches out there. Mike Budenholzer (Atlanta Hawks) didn’t coach in the NBA this season but coached the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2020-21 championship. Frank Vogel (Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic) guided the Los Angeles Lakers to the 2019-20 title, working this past year as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks under head coach Jason Kidd. Both Budenholzer and Vogel were dismissed by the Suns, ending their most recent head-coaching stints.
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Tom Thibodeau sat out this season after coaching the New York Knicks the previous five seasons, helping them last season to the Eastern Conference Finals after runs with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls. Los Angeles Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy — whose brother, Stan, was a candidate alongside Kerr to coach the Warriors in 2014 — hasn’t been a head coach since 2007 but led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999.
Former all-time great point guard turned Brooklyn Nets head coach turned Amazon analyst Steve Nash worked for Golden State as a consultant under Kerr. Nash’s topsy-turvy tenure with the Nets — that coincided with COVID-19 — ended after two-plus seasons, two trips to the playoffs and a first-round series win.
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown and Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson had pit stops on Kerr’s coaching staff between head coaching gigs. Neither Brown (who also coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lakers and Sacramento Kings) nor Atkinson (Nets) has won an NBA championship as a head coach, but both won championships with the Warriors under Kerr: Brown in 2017, 2018 and 2022 and Atkinson in 2022.
From among the current coaching staff, Warriors assistant coach Terry Stotts, 68, has 13 years of head-coaching experience that includes a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2019 with the Portland Trail Blazers. He previously held the top job with the Bucks and Hawks.
Assistants without head coaching experience: The past two championship head coaches — the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Mark Daigneault and the Boston Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla — were first assistants, charged with implementing new ideas and strategies into their respective clubs.
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Perhaps the Warriors want a fresh perspective, albeit from an NBA bench.
All-Star point guard turned Celtics assistant Sam Cassell has 17 years of NBA bench work to his name. He won a title alongside Mazzulla after helping the Washington Wizards, Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers.
San Antonio Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney helped the Mavericks reach the NBA Finals in 2024 with Kidd. Sweeney’s first year in San Antonio resulted in 62 wins and the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed — following stints with the Detroit Pistons, Bucks and Nets.
Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori has been to back-to-back Western Conference Finals, defeating the Warriors a year ago in the Western Conference semifinals. He also has worked for the Toronto Raptors, Kings, Denver Nuggets and Pistons.
Oakland native and Bishop O’Dowd graduate Johnnie Bryant — who played at City College of San Francisco before going on to Utah — is a trusted voice alongside Atkinson for the Cavaliers after coaching with the Knicks and Utah Jazz.
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All-Star wing turned Warriors assistant Jerry Stackhouse has coaching experience with the Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies, serving as the head coach for Toronto’s G League affiliate and Vanderbilt.
College head coaches: Coaches making the jump from college to the NBA haven’t had much success, save for Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan. But with the modern landscape of NIL and the transfer portal in the NCAA, college coaches are navigating professional environments now more than ever before.
Florida head coach Todd Golden, a national champion in 2025, told reporters this past week that he plans to coach the Gators despite his strong Bay Area ties. Golden coached at USF and played collegiately at St. Mary’s.
Michigan head coach Dusty May signed a contract extension earlier this month after guiding a Wolverines team with multiple likely first-round picks to the national title. He reached the Final Four in 2023 with Florida Atlantic and won at Michigan in his second season.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer is well-versed in coaching NBA talent (Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, projected top-five pick Cameron Boozer) — sandwiching Elite Eight trips around a berth in the Final Four.
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Coaches outside the NBA or college basketball: Kerr didn’t have a traditional background when Lacob picked him to replace Mark Jackson, and it’s possible Lacob could go outside convention again.
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, who has been an NBA assistant coach, could be an out-of-the-box candidate to replace Steve Kerr with the Warriors should Kerr not retun as Golden State’s head coach.
Rebecca Slezak/Dallas Morning News
Becky Hammon coached the Las Vegas Aces to three of the past four WNBA titles following seven years as an assistant with the Spurs under Gregg Popovich that followed a Hall of Fame playing career. Lacob tabbed her lead assistant, Natalie Nakase, to coach the Golden State Valkyries. Nakase led Golden State to the playoffs in its inaugural season, earning Coach of the Year honors in the process.
Former Washington Wizards assistant Ryan Richman coaches in Japan, where he has guided Mikawa the past three seasons to a 115-61 mark. He was the head coach of Washington’s G League affiliate in 2019-20.
ESPN analyst Tim Legler fits the mold that Kerr once fit, a sharpshooter turned sharp broadcaster. He last played in the NBA with Golden State in 1999.