Longtime Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has led the team to four NBA championships, was planning to retire before the Play-In Tournament in April.
He told ESPN the day before that game—which the Warriors won thanks to a vintage Stephen Curry performance—that he was 95% certain of his decision.
Now, a month after the Warriors were eliminated from the Play-In Tournament by the Phoenix Suns, Kerr announced he signed a two-year extension this week.
Contract Details
The deal will ensure that Kerr remains the highest-paid coach in the league, per ESPN. Last year, Kerr made $17.5 million.
"I'm thrilled to be back," Kerr said Friday. "I couldn't be more excited to continue on this job, and we had a great process the last few weeks trying to figure this out together, collaboratively."
"I don't think this actually happens in pro sports, honestly, where you have these kind of conversations and genuinely, authentically try to figure out together what's the right thing. So I'm very lucky to be in this organization, to work with the people I do."
Wife's Influence on Decision
During an extended session with the Bay Area media, Kerr explained why he wanted to return and the impact Curry and Draymond Green had on his decision.
While Kerr had extensive discussions with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy, he said that a comment from his wife helped him realize he wanted to continue with the organization.
"Ultimately, for me, I took about a week to really think about whether it was the right thing for me and my wife and I spoke every day about it," Kerr said.
"The bottom line was I still love what I do. I love coaching, I love being part of the Warriors."
"So at the end of about a week, my wife and I decided let's keep doing this if the Warriors want me to keep doing this. And it was, you know, my wife said something."
"She said, 'You might coach again someday, but you'll never coach the Warriors again.' And that was really meaningful to me because I love this team, I love our players, and that struck me."
"I couldn't imagine walking away from the Warriors. And so, at that point, it was really what do you guys want to do? And we had great meetings and over the course of about a week we all agreed let's do it."
Conversations With Curry and Green
Kerr said that he spoke with both Curry and Draymond Green, the two longest-tenured Warriors, as he was trying to make a decision on his future.
Notably, Kerr said they "did not have any impact or influence on whether I was going to be the coach."
"I think one of the strong points of our organization is that our best player, who is one of the greatest players in the history of the game, is not telling Mike or Joe what to do," Kerr said.
"He understands the repercussions of that, if he wanted to go down that path, and it's not healthy. It usually doesn't work out well when a player tries to dictate what an organization does."
But while Curry and Green may not have told the Warriors what to do, their conversations with Kerr did have an impact on his decision to return.
"I know he wanted me to coach, I know I wanted to coach him, and that mattered," Kerr said.
"But ultimately we have a really special, strong bond that should carry over into our success as a team. I think I have a better chance of coaching this team than anybody else because of that relationship."