PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Golden State coach Steve Kerr is contemplating his future, the four-time NBA champion coach suggesting after the Warriors\u2019 season ended Friday night that there is a chance he might not be back with the club next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might still go on. It may not,\u201d Kerr said after the Warriors lost in Phoenix and were eliminated from the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n
He shared an embrace with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the team\u2019s two constants from the Warriors\u2019 title runs with Kerr, near the team\u2019s bench in the game\u2019s final moments and appeared to mouth the words \u201cthank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr wouldn\u2019t reveal what he said in that moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of your business,\u201d he said, smiling.<\/p>\n
Green and Curry both made clear that they want him back. Kerr\u2019s future has been the subject of speculation for some time, fueled in part by him coaching this year on the final season of his existing contract. The Warriors missed the playoffs this season for the fourth time in the last seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want Coach to be happy. I want him to be excited about the job. I want him to believe you know he\u2019s the right guy for the job,\u201d Curry said. \u201cI want him to have an opportunity to again enjoy what he does. So, whatever that means for him, you know, everybody\u2019s plan is their own. And I\u2019m not going to try to tell anybody what to do. He knows how I feel about him. That shouldn\u2019t even need to be said.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Green, when asked if he could even fathom the Warriors without Kerr on the sideline: \u201cI just don\u2019t deal with change well. I don\u2019t love it. So, I don\u2019t want to think about that. I hope that\u2019s not the case, but we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 60-year-old Kerr just finished his 12th season with the Warriors. He\u2019s 604-353 in that span, led Golden State to the NBA Finals in each of his first five seasons \u2014 and once since then as well \u2014 plus guided the U.S. to Olympic gold at the Paris Games in 2024.<\/p>\n
His playoff record of 104-48 is nearly unmatched; among coaches with at least 100 playoff games in their career, his .684 playoff winning percentage is second only \u2014 and barely \u2014 to Phil Jackson, who went 229-104 (.688).<\/p>\n
Kerr said he\u2019ll meet with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy to chart a path for what\u2019s next. He suggested that might come in a week or two.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about what\u2019s next for the Warriors, what the plan is this offseason,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cAnd we will come to a collaborative decision on what\u2019s next. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. I still love coaching. But I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date. There\u2019s a run that happens, and when the run ends, sometimes it\u2019s time for new blood and new ideas and all that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, if that\u2019s the case, then I will be just nothing but grateful for the most amazing opportunity any person could have to coach this franchise, in front of our fans in the Bay and to coach Steph Curry, to coach Dray and the whole group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr wouldn\u2019t say what some of the factors are that might sway his decision, calling those private.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s right, it\u2019s right,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cAnd if it\u2019s not, it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be talks with Curry as well; the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history, who just finished his 17th season \u2014 all with Golden State \u2014 said he plans to play for \u201cmultiple\u201d seasons after this and would be interested in an extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be a busy summer for the Warriors,\u201d Curry said, smiling.<\/p>\n
The Warriors were 37-45 this season, dealing with injuries the entire way. They rallied Wednesday from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers and move into Friday\u2019s play-in finale, only to fall short against the Suns.<\/p>\n
And now, the Warriors wait to see what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was as tough a season as you can have, with the injuries, with all kinds of adversity,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cAnd they battled, and they battled the entire season. They kept going the other night just to, you know, continue the season, to show that kind of fight. And then tonight, we just didn\u2019t have it. But the competitive desire was there. And I\u2019m proud of the group for finishing the season the right way by continuing to fight and trying to win every game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr \u2014 who won five championships as a player, to go along with his four rings as a coach \u2014 has spoken often of his good fortunes within the game. He played for Lute Olson at Arizona, played with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in Chicago, played with David Robinson and Tim Duncan in San Antonio and played for Jackson and Gregg Popovich as a pro.<\/p>\n
And coaching Curry \u2014 the greatest face of a franchise he\u2019s ever seen, he said \u2014 is another honor, Kerr has insisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing I\u2019ve learned is that I\u2019m the luckiest guy in the NBA\u2019s history,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Golden State coach Steve Kerr is contemplating his future, the four-time NBA champion coach suggesting after the Warriors\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[11986,258460,258461,61966,6211,5460,6292,258459,355,14763,5190,99,2244,1599,2384,70710,4202],"class_list":["post-592244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-coach","tag-coach-steve-kerr","tag-final-moment","tag-friday-night","tag-future","tag-game","tag-job","tag-kerr","tag-nba","tag-playoff","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-stephen-curry","tag-team","tag-time","tag-warrior","tag-warriors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}