Warriors coach Steve Kerr is in the final year of his contract, but he has made it clear he’s in no rush to sign an extension.
As Kerr ponders his decision while the 2025-26 NBA season plays out, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy isn’t worried about the two sides working out a deal.
“Look, the reality is, Steve can stay as long as he wants,” Dunleavy told Bonta Hill, Festus Ezeli and Raj Mathai on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Warriors Pregame Live” before Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “He’s got great self-awareness. He knows where he’s at. And I think [Warriors owner] Joe [Lacob] said this, too … if he’s going to coach here, we want to make sure that he fully wants to be here, is fully committed and all that. And I think Steve’s taking the time right now, he’s taking the season. We’re respectful of that.
“I’m confident that he’ll be back and we’ll get something done. But this is not like a normal situation with a coach in the last year of his deal. This is Steve Kerr. This is unique, and we’re comfortable with where we’re at with him. We feel like we’ll get something done.”
Kerr signed his two-year, $35 million contract extension in February 2024. With two years left on Steph Curry’s contract, two remaining on Draymond Green’s with a player option in the final year and Jimmy Butler also signed through the 2026-27 season, it only seems right that Kerr would stick around for at least one more year.
But Kerr explained earlier this month why this offseason wasn’t the right time to address those things, even though he loves everyone he works with.
“As I get older, I think a lot about what would drive me from the NBA, you know?” Kerr told The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show” three weeks ago. “And what would that mean? I love being part of a team, being part of a group, collaborating. The travel, the length of the season does start to wear on you. A little bit of life enters the equation, family, all that stuff, grandkids. So this is really more about let’s just see where everything is at the end of the year, or midway through the year, whatever it is.
“But I didn’t really feel like addressing this stuff right now, because I want to see how I feel six months from now, and how the organization feels, too.”
Despite Kerr’s hesitation, he also noted during the same interview that he “would guess” he’ll keep going with the Warriors. It appears Dunleavy is just as sure the coach will be back, and all Dub Nation can do now is wait and see.
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