Steve Kerr was done. He had made up his mind, told nobody, and was ready to walk away from the Golden State Warriors.
Kerr revealed all of it Monday on the Tom Tolbert Show, sitting across from his former Arizona teammate, and the honesty is remarkable for a coach two weeks out from training camp.
“I had decided I was leaving with a week or two left in the regular season,” Kerr said. “I just thought, ‘It’s just time.’ I could feel it. I didn’t say anything to anybody, but I just thought, ‘Yeah, this is it.’ Just felt like it.”
The reason was the travel. Twelve seasons of NBA road life had finally worn through.
Three meetings changed everything
What pulled him back were three separate conversations with governor Joe Lacob, executive vice president Kirk Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. Management told him he needed to lower his expectations after the injuries that wrecked the 2025-26 season.
He signed a two-year contract in May instead of retiring.
“And I’m so glad that that happened, because I’m really fired up for this season,” Kerr said. “I couldn’t be more excited. I’m reenergized, rejuvenated. Excited about the potential this team has. Everybody’s counting us out and that’s fine. Let everybody say what they want to say.”
Kerr also said he does not envision coaching another NBA team, though he plans to stay involved with the league in some capacity.
LeBron to Golden State was never real
Kerr shot down the summer’s loudest rumor without much ceremony.
“I don’t think it’s exactly earth-shattering news, or I don’t think I’ll get fined for saying, like, it never really felt like he was coming here,” Kerr said. “To me, it was more speculation than anything.”
He said Bay Area fans keep telling him they are glad the Warriors did not land LeBron James, who signed with Philadelphia. Kerr compared the debate to asking whether Magic Johnson and Larry Bird should have played together, then dropped the honest part: “just as a coach and having coached him in the Olympics, sign me up.”
The Draymond warning
Buried in the same interview is the line that will matter most in December.
“It’s going to be an interesting year. A transition year of sorts,” Kerr said of Draymond Green. “We’re going to do some things differently. He and Steph obviously have this great rapport. We’re not going to take away from that, but he’s going to have to adapt a little bit, and it’s probably going to be a little frustrating times. So, I’m going to need his patience, too.”
A head coach publicly telling a 14-year veteran that his role is shrinking, in September, is how you get a January story about locker room tension.
Kerr also addressed the failed youth movement, pointing out that getting younger requires a trade partner. “We obviously tried to get younger, but stuff has to materialize,” he said. “There was nothing that made sense to me to make this huge move.”
Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are both injured, with Kerr expecting them back in the second half of the season. He named Yaxel Lendeborg, Gui Santos, Brandin Podziemski, Georges Niang and Brandon Williams as the depth answers.
A coach who almost quit, a franchise in transition, and a star being told to accept less. Golden State’s season starts with more honesty than most teams show all year.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.