Draymond Green said Monday he believes Steve Kerr will not be the Warriors' coach next season, a day after the team’s season ended with a loss to the Phoenix Suns that Green said felt like the end. Kerr, who has led Golden State since the 2014-15 season, had embraced Green and Stephen Curry in an emotional postgame moment after the defeat.
Green did not hedge when asked for his view on Kerr’s future. “You want my opinion? I think not. Just because it feels like that. It felt like that was it,” he said, adding later, “I hope he’s our coach next season.” He also said he has never been so uncertain since earlier in his career about what happens next, and called it a loss that left him “truly at a loss” because the next direction is unclear.
Kerr himself was far less definitive after Friday night’s loss. He said, “I don't know what's gonna happen next, but I love you guys,” and said he would take a week or two before sitting down with owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy. He also said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, I still love coaching, but I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date. There’s a run that happens, and sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas and all that.”
The uncertainty lands after another disappointing finish for a franchise that went 37-45 and missed the playoffs for the second time in three years. Under Kerr, the Warriors won four NBA titles and reached the NBA Finals six times in eight years, turning his tenure into one of the defining runs of the modern league. But the core now faces an offseason with one season left for Curry on his current deal and one year left on Green’s four-year, $100 million contract, setting up questions that could reshape the roster as much as the coaching staff. Kerr said if this is the end, he will be grateful for “the most amazing opportunity” to coach in the Bay, but he also made clear he does not yet know whether the run is over.