The Golden State Warriors are gearing up for another NBA season — one that marks the final year of head coach Steve Kerr’s current contract. With growing speculation surrounding his future, franchise star Stephen Curry made his stance crystal clear to the team’s front office.
In an interview with ESPN, Curry was asked whether he could see himself playing for a different coach. The four-time NBA champion responded, “I played for Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] twice at the world championships. Mark Jackson. Keith Smart”. Curry explained that his “game would translate” under any coach — but his answer changed completely when asked if he wanted to play for someone other than Kerr.
“I don’t want to. 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],” Curry said, sending a clear message to the front office about the coach with whom he’s shared the past 11 years.
Kerr has been a central figure in the Warriors’ historic run, guiding the team to four NBA championships over his 11 seasons in the Bay Area and helping shape the golden dynasty built around Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson.
To highlight just how strong the bond is between player and coach, Green compared their connection to some of the greatest duos in NBA history. “Steve is Steph’s guy,” Green told ESPN. “So even if there was ever a thought [to let Kerr go], it don’t work. You speak to the Tim and Pop thing — that’s his guy. You see MJ, like, ‘If Phil ain’t here, I ain’t here.’ It’s along those same lines. There’s no Steph without Steve”.
Kerr wants to keep coaching in the NBA
Warriors head coach made it clear he isn’t pursuing a contract extension during the preseason, saying he believes it’s best to wait until the end of the year to evaluate his and the franchise’s future together. Still, Kerr emphasized that he has no plans to step away from the sidelines anytime soon.
“I think one of the things that I’m aware of is in sports, and every sport, there’s kind of an expiration date on coaching jobs,” Kerr said on The TK Show, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “If you feel as a coach that it’s not clicking anymore, then it’s time to go — and I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t believe that’s where we are right now… By no means am I looking at this as the last dance or my last dance”.