Warriors’ Steve Kerr still joking about NY job as he starts year 10

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr does not wonder what could have been had he chosen to go to New York instead of Golden State in 2014 — he knows exactly how things would have gone.

Whenever this topic comes up, Kerr says that he “would have been fired in two years.” That’s exactly what he told famed Knicks fan Jon Stewart in December 2021, and what he told his former general manager Bob Myers earlier this year. It came up again when Kerr told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami in an interview published Monday, albeit in a less direct way.

Since the 58-year-old is entering the final year of his Warriors contract, Kawakami brought up the jump in coaching salaries lately — Pistons coach Monty Williams signed a record six-year, $78.5 million contract back in May — and asked whether that affects the dynamics of an extension with Golden State. After meandering over how wonderful it is to play for a league that’s only gotten more popular, and more lucrative, since the start of his playing days, Kerr talked about how great it was to coach the Warriors while repeating his tried and true line about the Knicks.

“I love what I do and fortunate to be compensated well for it,” Kerr said. “Especially to coach here in the bay with a group of players like I’ve been able to. I say it all the time when people ask me, but if I had gone to New York, I would have lasted about two years and I’d probably be doing television right now. There’s a lot of randomness and circumstantial luck in life and I’ve had a lot of luck and good fortune coming to the Warriors.”

Choosing the Warriors over the Knicks was anything but luck. In that 2021 interview with Stewart, Kerr said his decision came down to a friend asking Kerr what Phil Jackson would do in his situation. 

“I was like, ooh, man, and that kinda got me,” the Dubs coach said at the time. “Because think about it: Phil Jackson takes the Bulls job when he’s got Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and his career takes off. Pat Riley takes the Laker job when he’s got Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. We’re all dependent on our talent as coaches, and the Warriors were already good — they were a 50-win team, they’ve got all this young talent.”

What’s not known is what Kerr will do regarding his contract. He mentioned to Kawakami that he’s “not worried about it at all” because he loves the Dubs, and the Dubs want him back, but noted he’s not sure when negotiations will get done. With any luck, especially given how the coach describes the relationship, it’ll be sooner rather than later. Otherwise, Kerr is in for a long season of reporters incessantly asking him about the status of those talks until his signature is on some sort of dotted line.