Everything appeared to be pointing toward a separation. After the Golden State Warriors' season came to an end on a Friday night in Phoenix, Steve Kerr's future with the franchise he'd spent 12 seasons coaching was as blurry as ever. The emotional and wistful moment he shared with his two protégés — Stephen Curry and Draymond Green — reinforced the idea that it might actually be the end.
But a few weeks after that season-ending loss in the Valley of the Sun, Kerr and the Warriors agreed on a two-year contract, clearing up the uncertainty.
Why Steve Kerr could not walk away just yet
Kerr is well aware that those next two campaigns won't resemble what he and the Warriors have grown accustomed to experiencing. Competing for a title every season had become the norm; at one point, not winning it was even an anomaly. But for the next two seasons, setting out to win, or even compete for, a championship is unrealistic.
The last time the Warriors entered a season without clear championship aspirations was in 2019, following their third title. Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston had all left, Klay Thompson missed the entire campaign with the ACL injury he suffered in the Finals, and Steph Curry broke his left hand just four games into the season.
The 2025-26 season was a strange one for Golden State. From unfortunate injuries to core pieces, to competing with an unusually old roster, to the lack of meaningful games down the stretch, Kerr had a lot on his plate. In hindsight, after his 12th season at the helm of the Warriors, the 60-year-old coach admitted he wasn't satisfied with the way he navigated the season.
The Warriors' thrilling win over the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the Play-In Tournament definitely helped alleviate that dissatisfaction. That game captured two key factors that have characterized Golden State's now-fading dynasty.
Draymond Green played one of the best defensive games of his career — putting the clamps on Kawhi Leonard — and a trademark Curry flurry powered the Warriors back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. It reminded Kerr, Dub Nation and the organization that, when it mattered most, they were themselves again — they were champions.
"You do live for those types of moments and it's hard to describe how awesome and just exhilarating it is to coach and to win a game and to see everything come together," Kerr said. "It's one of the reasons we all have trouble walking away"
Draymond Green and Stephen Curry mentioned several times that they just wanted what was best for their coach. They didn't try to force his way back or threaten the front office that they would leave if he didn’t return. They let him handle it on his terms. His family — more precisely, his wife, Margot, and daughter, Madeleine — did play a role in his decision.
"My daughter, she said 'Dad don't focus on the two or three things you don't like about your job, focus on the hundred things you do like', and she said 'most of us don't love everything about our jobs'. I was like 'yeah that's true', and it hurts when your kids tell you the truth and you realize they're smarter than you," Kerr said.
But after weeks of daily discussions with his wife, multiple meetings with owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy, and conversations with Green and Curry, Kerr came to the conclusion that he still loved the job. He still loved the daily process and the struggles that come with it. But he also realized that this type of opportunity — to coach a team like the Warriors and players like Curry, Green or Butler — doesn’t come around very often. During one of those conversations, his wife, Margot, mentioned something that resonated with him.
"What Margot said to me, 'if you leave you can come back and coach, but you can never coach the Warriors again'," Kerr said. "That was the most meaningful thing because I love the Warriors, I love Steph and Dray and the guys, Rick Celebrini and Mike and our crew, Eric Housen, and Bert (Ortiz). I can go down the list and there's people when I walk into that building every day who I love and admire and who I know share the same values and desire for us to win and it's an incredibly exciting and enlivening feeling to have that and I wasn't ready to walk away."
Now Kerr and his staff enter a new chapter of his Warriors story. An offseason full of adjustments and decisions is the first step.
Warriors still face uncertainty after Steve Kerr's return
First, the coaching staff will have a different look, as both Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse decided to leave to pursue head coaching opportunities. No matter who Kerr has by his side, the goal from a basketball standpoint remains the same: find solutions to cut down on turnovers.
Turnovers have been a recurring issue of the Steve Kerr era. From 2014 to 2026, the Warriors committed 14,246 turnovers in 954 regular-season games, the third-most during that span behind only the Houston Rockets (14,349) and the Utah Jazz (14,502). Across 12 seasons with Kerr at the helm, the Warriors ranked among the five worst teams at taking care of the ball in seven of those seasons.
Their 15.7 turnovers per game last season were the third-most in the NBA, and Kerr has made this problem his top priority. He even watched every one of his team's turnovers from last season to try to find patterns or come up with creative strategies that can turn them into a more disciplined and efficient offensive team.
"We know that where we are right now, we have to win on the margins. We knew that last year coming in, we wanted to win the possession game, get extra offensive rebounds, limit our turnovers, and we didn't do a very good job of it," he said. "And so that's on me and that's on my staff to try to make that happen."
From a personnel standpoint, the front office also has a lot to sort through. Draymond Green, Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton all have player options for next season. Kristaps Porzingis, Gary Payton II, Seth Curry and Charles Bassey will become unrestricted free agents. Quinten Post and Pat Spencer will be also be restricted free agents.
Kerr touched on the importance of this roster adding fresh blood and avoiding a situation like last year’s, when multiple players either couldn’t play both legs of back-to-backs or were limited in some way. Last season, Al Horford (11), De'Anthony Melton (9) and Kristaps Porzingis (3) combined to miss 23 games due to injury management.
"We need some younger legs for sure, we know that," he said. "How do you do that? It's a difficult job. And so that's up to Mike and obviously he will consult with me on moves and we'll hash that stuff out."
It all starts with the draft. The Warriors own the 11th pick in what’s expected to be a talent-loaded draft. Names like Brayden Burries, Aday Mara and Yaxel Lenderborg have been linked to the Warriors across multiple mock drafts, with the last one making the most sense given their current situation.
Lenderborg, a 6-foot-9 forward who just won a National Championship with Michigan, could provide the Warriors with some much-needed depth at the wing positions. With both Moses Moody and Jimmy Butler set to miss a big chunk of next season, this roster needs the elusive combination of size, defense and shooting. Lenderborg has the potential to check those boxes.
"It's obvious, where we are with the injuries to Moses and Jimmy, you look at our depth on the wings, that guy has to play. He's got to earn it but we're committed to the development of our young players," Kerr said.
In a nutshell, the Warriors have a whole lot to figure out and not that much time to do it. But at the end of the day, a roster that boasts Stephen Curry and is coached by Steve Kerr is a roster nobody wants to face, no matter the circumstances.
"We can have a year where we get back in the hunt, and I'm confident of that."
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