SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Once Steve Kerr came to the realization that there was nothing he'd rather do than coach the Golden State Warriors and the team figured out there was no one better to guide the organization through Stephen Curry's final seasons, the final decision for both sides was easy.
The four-time championship winning coach will remain in charge of the Warriors after signing a two-year contract.
“I still love what I do,” Kerr said Friday. “If I were tired and burned out, then I would not be doing this. But I love my job, I love coaching the Warriors, being in this city, being in the Bay.”
That was in doubt at the end of a 37-win season that left Golden State out of the playoffs for the fourth time in seven seasons. Kerr thought it might be time to step away and at times it appeared like he might after his emotional embrace of Curry and Draymond Green at the end of a season-ending loss to Phoenix in the play-in tournament.
Kerr took about a week after the season before deciding with his wife, Margot, and the rest of his family that he wanted to remain as coach. He then met several times with general manager Mike Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob before the sides finalized a two-year deal.
“I’m happiest when I’m on the court with my players, when I’m collaborating with Mike and the organization,” Kerr said. “I love this, and even through the struggles this year, I love the struggle, I love that challenge. Margot said to me, you know, if you leave, you can come back and coach, but you can never coach the Warriors again. That was the most meaningful thing.”
Kerr has been one of the NBA's most successful coaches since being hired by Golden State in 2015. He won the title in his first season, helped the team set a record with 73 wins in the regular season in 2015-16, won back-to-back championships in 2017 and ’18 and won it all again in 2022.
This past season was quite the challenge as Kerr dealt with an aging roster that included several players whose practice and playing time needed to be managed closely, an injury that sidelined Curry for a large portion of the second half of the season and season-ending injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody that left Golden State too short-handed to make the playoffs.
But Kerr saw the possibilities when Curry helped lead a thrilling comeback win against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first play-in game. While Kerr acknowledges this current version of the team isn't able to compete for championships, he wants to make sure the team can play meaningful games once again.
“The idea is let’s see how good we can be next year,” he said. “We think we can still be good. We have to get some guys back from injury. We have to make some moves. I have to do some things. Let's run it back and see how good we can be. I think we’re all excited about that.”
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Kerr said he believes Dunleavy and Lacob can improve the roster in the offseason and acknowledged that he needs to be a better coach.
Both Kerr and Dunleavy stressed the importance of cutting down on turnovers after the Warriors finished with the fourth highest turnover rate in the NBA this season. Kerr said that starts with him.
“We got a little too loose,” he said. “Literally loose with the ball. But because of our age, because of our injuries, we spent a lot of time resting. So I’ve got to tighten the ship up next year.”
Now that Kerr is in place, the next task is upgrading a roster that wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs after the injuries to Butler and Moody, which will keep them out for significant time next season.
“This just isn’t about the roster, frankly,” Dunleavy said. “This year, I don’t think we came up short because of the talent on the roster. It was injuries and things we can control.”
Golden State also has the No. 11 pick in what is considered a deep draft, along with a second-rounder. Kerr said he is “totally” committed to developing and using young players after sometimes being hesitant in the past when the Warriors had a more proven roster.
“We're in a different place now,” he said. “It's obvious where we are with the injuries to Moses, Jimmy, look at our depth on the wings. That guy has to play. He has to earn it.”
The Warriors will also have to overhaul their assistant coaches with both Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse not returning next season. Longtime assistant Chris DeMarco also left midway through the season to take over as coach of the WNBA's New York Liberty.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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