Feb 14, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr reacts during the second half of the game against the LA Clippers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports/ File Photo
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, entering his second decade at the helm, will reportedly remain through the 2025-26 season…
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has won four titles with Golden State, and it’s expected that he will spend the next two seasons trying to win five more.
Kerr has agreed to a $35 million agreement through the 2025–2026 season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Kerr said he felt “really good” about his future with Golden State and declined to comment on his contract because “nothing has been signed” following the Warriors’ 97-84 victory against Charlotte.
Kerr, who is in his tenth season with the Warriors, had made it obvious that he always intended to return, and he hadn’t been in a rush to finish anything. The season was his first concern.
The 58-year-old Kerr, who led Golden State to four titles with a star-studded team that included Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson, recently won his 500th game.
“Whew, a lot of money,” remarked Green. “I think it’s amazing; I wouldn’t want to end my time here with any other coach. You can’t replace the winning methods that he brought to this team, the significance he has had for this organization, and what he has done for us as players. I’m very glad Steve and his family received what was rightfully theirs.
Kerr has stated multiple times that he is not worried about starting this season without a contract for 2024–25 and beyond, notably during the USA Basketball camp last summer. He will serve as the American team’s coach in Paris.
The average value of $17.5 million would be the most for any NBA coach. Other deals have a higher total value: Miami’s Erik Spoelstra agreed to an eight-year, $120 million extension earlier this year, while San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (five years, $80 million) and Detroit’s Monty Williams (reported six years, $78 million) have bigger contracts in terms of total dollars.
“You’re with Pop, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Green said. “That’s exactly the realm of coaching when you look at coaches as a whole, that’s the realm that he’s in. So, happy to see and it’s great knowing that we’ll all be in this together.”
After coaching the Warriors to the 2015 title for the franchise’s first championship in 40 years, Kerr took a leave of absence early in the next season after suffering debilitating complications from a pair of back surgeries.
Top assistant Luke Walton coached in his absence and led a record 24-0 start and was 39-4 overall while Kerr was out.
Kerr then missed more than six weeks on the bench in 2017 because of pain, headaches and other symptoms such as vertigo.
Now-Kings coach Mike Brown filled in for him until Kerr returned for Game 2 of the NBA Finals as the Warriors went on to win behind Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Curry.
Kerr’s extension is worth more annually than what he made in the entirety of his playing career, one in which he was part of five NBA championship teams. It also keeps him leading Golden State through 2025-26, which also represents the last season in which Stephen Curry is under contract with the Warriors.
Among coaches with more than 500 NBA wins, only three — Phil Jackson, K.C. Jones and Red Auerbach — have a higher winning percentage than Kerr, who entered Friday night having won 65.5% of his games with the Warriors.
And his postseason success is beyond compare: Kerr has gone 99-41 as Golden State’s coach in the postseason, that winning percentage of .707 ranking as the best in NBA history. Only six coaches have more playoff wins than Kerr.
