Warriors Coach Steve Kerr’s Future an ‘Open Question’

The Golden State Warriors got one of the best wins of the season on Thursday night, with a team of young and unheralded players taking the reins in the absence of the team’s top stars–Stephen Curry is still out with a persistent kneecap issue that will keep him out at least until next week, while Jimmy Butler is out for the year with an ACL tear. The win was anchored by such prominent Warriors figures as LJ Cryer and Nate Williams.

Coach Steve Kerr was ebullient after the game, which pushed the Dubs to 32-30 and keeps them at No. 8 in the play-in tournament fight.

While it is the kind of win that any coach would be proud of, at the same time, Kerr has remained something of a mysterious–and even controversial–figure for the Warriors this season, not a common spot for a coach with five franchise championships to be in. But the incoming flak Kerr has taken this season has many wondering if he is set to hang up his clipboard and leave the team after this season.

---

Steve Kerr’s Warriors Contract Set to Expire

That was a topic on the “Run It Back” podcast on FanDuel this week, where veteran reporter and analyst for The Ringer Howard Beck was discussing the plight of the Warriors and Kerr with Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams.

Beck pointed out that the Kerr-Warriors situation could be wrapped up by simply announcing a contract extension. But as it stands, Kerr’s contract is set to expire and the door for him to exit his situation in Golden State is open.

---

Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry Going Out Together?

Beck notes that the Warriors’ most interested parties–Curry and Kerr–seem amenable to Kerr being back. But a new deal has not happened, which leaves the questions open.

Said Beck: “When Steph talks about it, he always talks about, me, Draymond and Steve going out together. And Steve will allude to that, too. But their contracts are not aligned right now. Steve’s contract is up at the end of this year, and it’s just kind of been assumed that—and Steve has talked about it this way—that he will take care of that when the time comes.

“But I think the longer we go here, the more it is safe to wonder whether some other factor is at work, whether it’s contractual, whether it is philosophical, have they just reached the end of the road between franchise and coach? I don’t think that’s the case … but it’s an open question right now.”

 

---

Warriors Not Expecting a Change

Indeed, it’s a situation in which everyone appears to be on the same page, but because nothing has been done, there’s reason to wonder whether the issues that have cropped up this year–especially with the handling of Jonathan Kuminga, whom Kerr pushed out of the Warriors’ rotation before he was traded–might have Kerr wondering if he wants to be back and face more slings and arrows.

He has the backing of GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. as of now.

“I don’t see why not,” Dunleavy told “The TK Show” this week when asked if he expects Kerr to be back. “I mean, I think Steve has mentioned wanting to get to the end of the season and figure it out. I think things are, for him, going well. We’ll figure all that out when it comes, but I think it’s been interesting that the focus for us internally between myself, Joe [Lacob], the players, and Steve, has really been on how to get this thing right the rest of the season.

“So, we haven’t put a whole bunch of thought into it.”

 

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney