Steve Kerr, was this your last game as head coach of the Warriors? ‘I do not know.’
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I love you guys to death, and I thank you. I appreciate you.”
It was Warriors coach Steve Kerr, at the raised microphone, speaking with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green shortly before the end of the Warriors’ season, at the hands of the Phoenix Suns in the play-in. With the end of the season, Kerr’s contract as head coach of the Warriors came to an end. The sides did not agree on an extension before the season, and while there is no animosity, there is also no certainty about what will happen next.
Announcement
Kerr was asked about his future after the game and said he wanted to take a step back for a while first.
“The plan is to take some time, I don’t know, a week or two, and eventually sit down and talk to Joe [Lacob, the co-owner] and Mike [Dunleavy, head of basketball operations]. We’ve always had a great partnership and collaboration, and just see where they are, and I’ll tell them where they are, and we’ll talk about what’s next for the Warriors, what the plan is for this offseason, and we’ll come to a collaborative decision on what’s next.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I still love coaching, but I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date. There’s a rush that happens, and when the rush ends, sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas and all that. And if that’s the case, then I will be nothing but grateful for the most amazing opportunity one person could have to coach this franchise in front of our fans in the Bay, and to coach Steph Curry and Dray and that whole group.
“So it might still continue. It might not, I don’t know, at this point, but we all need to distance ourselves a little bit and then come together again.”
Announcement
Kerr was clear about one thing: he will not move to another team.
“I’m definitely not going to coach somewhere else next year in the NBA,” Kerr said.
He also said, “I don’t want to move away from Steph.” There has been some speculation around the league that he and the Warriors would part ways — or that he would be promoted to a front office role and not be on the bench — but no one really knows.
And while Friday night felt like the end of an era for Kerr and these Warriors, things could look different in a week or two when Kerr sits down with Lacbob and Dunleavy. For now, he just wants some time away.