SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr agreed Friday to a two-year contract extension worth $35 million, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity Friday night because Kerr hasn’t signed his new contract. ESPN first reported the agreement, attributing that to Kerr’s agents at Priority Sports. It would be a record for annual value.
After the Warriors beat Charlotte 97-84, Kerr declined to comment on his deal because “nothing has been signed,” but instead just smiled and said he feels “really good” about his future with Golden State.
In his 10th season with the Warriors, Kerr’s current deal was set to expire after this season — and he hadn’t been in a rush to complete anything, with the season his top priority and him being clear he always planned on returning.
The 58-year-old Kerr recently won his 500th game and has guided Golden State to four championships with a star-studded roster led by Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
“A lot of money, whew,” Green said. “I think it’s incredible, wouldn’t want to finish my time here with any other coach, and what he’s meant to this franchise, what he’s done for us as players, the winning ways that he brought here, you can’t replace that. And so, very happy for Steve and his family, got what he deserved.”
Kerr has said numerous times, including last summer with USA Basketball, that he was not concerned about entering this season without a deal for 2024-25 and beyond. He will coach the Americans at the Paris Olympics this summer and has no plans to remain in that role for the next four-year Olympic cycle.
The average value of $17.5 million would be the most for any NBA coach. Other deals have a higher total value: Miami’s Erik Spoelstra agreed to an eight-year, $120 million extension earlier this year, while San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (five years, $80 million) and Detroit’s Monty Williams (reported six years, $78 million) have bigger contracts in terms of total dollars.
“You’re with Pop, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Green said. “That’s exactly the realm of coaching when you look at coaches as a whole, that’s the realm that he’s in. So, happy to see and it’s great knowing that we’ll all be in this together.”
After coaching the Warriors to the 2015 title for the franchise’s first championship in 40 years, Kerr took a leave of absence early in the next season after suffering debilitating complications from a pair of back surgeries. Top assistant Luke Walton coached in his absence and led a record 24-0 start and was 39-4 overall while Kerr was out.
Kerr then missed more than six weeks on the bench in 2017 because of pain, headaches and other symptoms such as vertigo. Now-Kings coach Mike Brown filled in for him until Kerr returned for Game 2 of the NBA Finals as the Warriors went on to win behind Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Curry.
Kerr’s extension is worth more annually than what he made in the entirety of his playing career, one in which he was part of five NBA championship teams. It also keeps him leading Golden State through 2025-26, which also represents the last season in which Stephen Curry is under contract with the Warriors.
Among coaches with more than 500 NBA wins, only three — Phil Jackson, K.C. Jones and Red Auerbach — have a higher winning percentage than Kerr, who entered Friday night having won 65.5% of his games with the Warriors. And his postseason success is beyond compare: Kerr has gone 99-41 as Golden State’s coach in the postseason, that winning percentage of .707 ranking as the best in NBA history. Only six coaches have more playoff wins than Kerr.
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
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