When Steve Kerr eventually leaves his post as Golden State Warriors head coach, there will be both mourning and celebration around the NBA. The mourning part will be because Kerr doesn't plan on coaching anywhere else, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN, so no other team will be able to have him as their head coach. And boy, are they missing out on something great.
The celebration part will come because all 29 other teams will no longer have to play against him, which has historically not boded well for them; Kerr's 567-308 career record is pretty staggering, and when he leaves the league, it will be a huge departure after an era of consistent winning.
So will teams be sad they can't poach Kerr from the Warriors? Sure! But will the relief of not having to gameplan against a guy who's consistently drawing up crazy and progressive schemes? Probably.
Steve Kerr has been a steady force in the NBA
Of course, Kerr's success can be tied in part to the teams he's had the privilege of coaching; Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and (sometimes) Kevin Durant make a coach's life a little easier.
But it's also important to remember that the year before Steve Kerr took over in the Bay, the Warriors lost in the first round with Mark Jackson at the helm. The next year, rookie head coach Steve Kerr took the team all the way, starting a dynasty in the process. Since then, he's won three more rings with the team and has been outcoached very, very few times. If the Warriors lose, the blame seldom falls on Kerr's shoulders. He's just that good.
When Kerr calls it quits, I think he's the kind of guy who will really mean it. No changing his mind a few years later when he realizes he misses the game. But I also think Kerr, a basketball lifer, is going to really make sure he's squeezed everything out of the game before hanging up the clipboard... Can you hang up a clipboard?
That will be a bittersweet day when it finally does come. But for Warriors fans, it will feel pretty dang good knowing that one of the best coaches in basketball history was their guy, and their guy only. 29 other teams will never get to experience what it was like having Kerr at the helm.