Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr will stay on after considering retirement in 2026.
Steve Kerr entered the Beverly Wilshire lobby with a quiet resolve: after this season, his 12-year tenure as Warriors head coach would end. On an April morning before the team’s first postseason play-in game in Los Angeles, he disclosed his plan to step away, estimating the decision at 95 percent certainty. Dressed in a sweatsuit, Kerr sat by a window, lowering his voice to nearly whisper, 'I think it's over.' The weight of a disappointing season and fading team chemistry weighed on him as he ordered his usual California Breakfast, his usual cheer replaced by a deep melancholy.
Hours before a crucial team dinner in Beverly Hills, Kerr drove past his old junior high school, memories of his childhood home in Pacific Palisades resurfacing. His family had moved frequently during his father’s career as a Middle East expert, including stays in Cairo and Beirut, before Malcolm Kerr became president of the American University of Beirut in 1982. The Palisades Fire had destroyed their family home the previous year, leaving only memories. That night at Draymond Green’s house, a pitmaster smoked brisket, lamb chops, pork shoulder, and burnt ends as Kerr reflected on a career’s worth of moments.
No major college coach believed Steve Kerr could play beyond high school, and Gonzaga’s point guard John Stockton humiliated him in a tryout. Only Cal State Fullerton and Arizona expressed interest, with Arizona coach Lute Olson admitting he planned to replace Kerr the following season after he averaged under 6 points per game. Everything changed when Kerr received a 3 a.m. phone call in the dark, delivering news that shattered his world.
Steve Kerr answered the phone in the dark at his dorm, a voice telling him, 'Your father was a great man.' He ran downstairs in a daze, pounding on teammates’ doors before sitting alone on the curb of Speedway Boulevard. Basketball stopped mattering, but the team remained his anchor. Olson allowed Kerr to play in Arizona’s next game despite the tragedy, and Kerr responded with a career-high 12 points, earning a standing ovation after being benched with 1:39 left. The arena felt like a cocoon of healing as fans wept and cheered.
Steve Kerr first broached retirement in June 2025, after the Warriors’ second-round playoff exit and Curry’s injury. He mentioned to his wife they’d discussed it often, noting he had one year left on his contract and that Curry and Green’s departures would warrant a fresh start. Kerr fretted about the team’s fragility, saying, 'We are one injury from completely falling apart.' His mentor Gregg Popovich had struggled with the same decision, calling retirement a moment many coaches cannot face.
Steve Kerr’s back pain began during Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals, an injury he ignored until after winning the title. Post-surgery complications led to a decade-long search for relief, including trips to Mayo Clinic, Duke, and England for stem-cell therapy. His symptoms included migraines and pressure behind his eyes, with doctors unable to pinpoint a cause. Tiger Woods reached out with advice, but Kerr kept his pain private, valuing privacy as a way to retain his humanity amid his public life.
While on vacation in France, Kerr listened to a podcast featuring psychotherapist Nicole Sachs, who discussed tension myositis syndrome, where emotional stress manifests as physical pain. Sachs’s work resonated with Kerr, who had corresponded years earlier with Alan Gordon, a disciple of Dr. John Sarno. Kerr began a daily routine of journaling for 20 minutes and meditating for 10, writing about trauma, anger, and unresolved grief. His back pain began easing, and the emotional work left him raw but hopeful as he prepared for the 2025-26 season.
The Warriors’ 2025-26 season opener included 13 road games in the first 17 contests, a brutal stretch that saw three games in four days. They won the first two but were 'destroyed' in Portland, turning the ball over 25 times. Kerr regretted not resting stars in nationally televised games, noting rules force teams to play key players like Curry and Jimmy Butler unless injured. Draymond Green, no longer a 'designated star,' reacted with frustration, a sign of the team’s shifting dynamics.
Steve Kerr sought something intangible in the 2025-26 season, sensing Curry and Green did too—the feeling of 'meaningful basketball.' He believed shared memories could unlock a mental vault, but those same memories complicated the team’s present. The Warriors weren’t chasing titles; they wanted to justify one last ride together. Kerr accepted the season as the 'fourth quarter' of Golden State’s story, focused on honor, fight, and legacy rather than rings.
Kerr walked with his dogs Lulu and Mabel through a Presidio redwood grove, where sunlight filtered through towering canopies and the air smelled of eucalyptus. He stopped and declared, 'We're a fading dynasty.' The beauty of struggle captivated him, and he embraced the idea of clawing to the eighth seed as its own reward. The bay’s sparkling blue waters and the Golden Gate Bridge’s spans mirrored the ephemeral nature of a season—part intention, part surrender.