Steve Kerr is on the final year of his current contract with the Golden State Warriors, but don’t expect him to go anywhere as long as Steph Curry remains on the roster for the Warriors.
During a recent sit down with Zena Keita of The Athletic Show, Kerr made it clear that he plans to continue coaching Curry as long as he is afforded the opportunity.
"I will never leave Steph Curry," Kerr said, noting how their relationship has blossomed over the past decade. “… When I got here five years later [Curry] had already established himself as an All-Star. And my goal was just to help him get even better and win a championship.
"And we were able to do that in year one and win three more and form a partnership that I will be grateful for (for) my entire life because it goes way beyond how good he is as a basketball player."
As good as Curry is on the court, Kerr seems to be even fonder of the person he is off of the hardwood.
"He is one of the finest human beings I've ever been around in my life,” Kerr said of Curry. “And just to come to work every day and see Steph has made this job everything.”
Kerr took over as the head coach in Golden State in 2014 and he immediately led the Warriors to five consecutive NBA Finals appearances, winning three of them. He’s led the Warriors to four titles overall, and Curry has blossomed into one of the best players in league history under his leadership.
The respect between the two men is mutual. Curry has previously stated that he hopes to never play for another coach.
"I don't want to," Curry said. "We deserve that, I feel. Things change in this league. We can only control so much. But I think we're in a very unique situation that we deserve the opportunity [to ride it out]."
While Kerr is on the final year of his deal, Curry still has another season remaining on his. So, based on these recent comments from Kerr, it sounds like we should expect him to sign a new deal with the Warriors after the season, for one year at least.
That is of course unless the front office wants to go in a different direction, but the winningest coach in franchise history should have a long leash. It’s very difficult to imagine the organization parting ways with Kerr, especially since Curry has made it clear where he stands on the matter.
So, unless something shocking happens, we’re likely to get at least one more season of the Kerr and Curry combination.