Steve Kerr, unsure of Warriors future, shares moment with Steph Curry and Draymond Green
Published in Basketball
PHOENIX – Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr gathered in a circle, hands on one another’s shoulders and embraced as the Golden State Warriors’ season concluded during the play-in tournament on Friday night.
With the scoreboard reading 110-94 in favor of the Phoenix Suns and 1:06 left on the clock, Green wearing his warmups mere seconds before being ejected and Kerr finally taking a moment to avert his focus from the long grind of the season to what comes next, Curry leaned in to listen to the man who has coached him for the past 12 seasons.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I love you guys to death,” Kerr told Curry and Green during an embrace that lasted 18 seconds in front of the Warriors’ bench.
“Thank you.”
It was not “goodbye.” But it very well could be as the Warriors enter an offseason fraught with uncertainty.
Kerr’s contract is expiring, and his possible return or departure tinged the questions and answers postgame.
“These jobs all have an expiration date,” Kerr said.
Curry, who the coach called “the greatest face of a franchise” in the sport’s history, cautioned people not to read too much into the moment.
“I don’t know if that’s a signal of anything,” Curry said. “It’s just that we wanted to appreciate what we have all poured into this journey.”
Kerr, 60, shut down any thoughts that he already has his future planned out. He said he will meet with team owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy and lay out all scenarios. He is not favoring any outcome, at least not publicly.
Though one factor, who wears No. 30 and has been alongside Kerr every step of the way during four title seasons, might affect his decision-making process.
“I don’t want to walk away from Steph, I’m definitely not going and coaching somewhere else next year in the NBA,” Kerr said. “I would never walk away from Steph, but all this stuff has to be aligned and right.”
Very few things were aligned and right for the Warriors this season, which began with legitimate hopes of making a deep playoff run and ended wrecked by injuries.
In some ways, even reaching the play-in could be seen as a successful outcome against the full scope of the Warriors’ injury woes.
What teams could expect to survive the loss of both starting wings to devastating knee injuries?
First, it was Jimmy Butler, who collapsed to the floor against the Heat on Jan. 19 with a torn left ACL. Then Moses Moody, who needed to be stretchered off the court in Dallas on March 24 after he tore his patellar tendon.
“So many guys going in and out of the lineup, just unfortunate stuff,” Green said.
Green made it known that even at 36, having just completed his 14th season with the Warriors, he has no intentions of retiring.
Smiling from the podium – he claimed only “frontrunners” would snarl after loss following so many years of success – Green also noted that he does not like change, craving the kind of stability that is rare in a league as transient as the NBA.
But even he acknowledged that it could be coming to the Bay Area. Green is expected to pick up his player option, but could also sign an extension … or be traded.
“Hopefully I’ve done enough to still be here, but if not, we’ll see what it looks like,” Green said. “It’s been a hell of a run.”
The Warriors were also without Curry for over two months late in the season, beset by patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner’s knee) that necessitated a strict minutes limit after he returned.
He was optimistic that with a full offseason of rest – and plenty of golf – the knee will be in good condition come training camp.
But at 38, nothing is certain when it comes to injuries.
“I think, big picture, that there’s not anything,” Curry said. “Hopefully rest will get me right going into training camp, feeling good, and I’ll be able to manage it early in the year, and kind of see where I’m at.”
Golden State could run it back for another year. Hope a roster that is another year older can stay healthy, that Butler and Moody return late next season to provide a playoff boost.
What is for sure is that the Warriors enter an offseason filled with uncertainties, from Butler and Moody’s injury return to the pending free agency of De’Anthony Melton and Kristaps Porzingis, and a possible extension for Brandin Podziemski. There’s also the matter of how Dunleavy will use Golden State’s lottery pick.
But the most pressing question remains: Will Kerr coach the Warriors next season?
Curry, Butler and Green — if he opts in — are all set to enter the final year of their deals, and it would be almost unthinkable for Curry and Green to play for anyone but Kerr, who has coached them since 2014.
Thinking back to that emotional postgame huddle, Curry shared his two takeaways.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if it is the last time, I just want to share this moment,” Curry remembered Kerr saying. “After laying it all out on the line for as long as we did during this game, that was kind of a jolting message.”
Curry then cracked a grin.
“But he left the door open,” he said before stepping off the podium and officially beginning his offseason.
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