Steve Kerr met with reporters Friday to discuss returning as Golden State Warriors head coach after signing a two-year contract extension, saying he was “thrilled to be back.”
Kerr, 60, said in an ESPN feature story that he was “95 percent” certain he would retire before the play-in tournament in April, but changed his mind after the Warriors’ 126-121 win over the Los Angeles Clippers to extend their season and provide a chance to make the playoffs. (However, Golden State lost its next game to the Phoenix Suns to end that opportunity.)
“If I were tired and burned out, I would not be doing this,” he said, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
Kerr elaborated on wanting to come back to coach this team, including mainstays Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, a feeling his wife reinforced when speaking with her.
“My wife said, ‘You might coach again someday, but you’ll never coach the Warriors again,’” Kerr explained. “And that was really meaningful because I love this team, I love our players and that struck me. I couldn’t imagine walking away from the Warriors.”
He added that neither Curry nor Green influenced his decision, though the coach did speak to both players.
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Now going into his 13th season as Warriors head coach, Kerr is already thinking about what improvements need to be made for next season. In his view, that starts with the coaching.
“I know I have to be better. I didn’t have a great coaching year.” Kerr said. “We got a little too loose. I gotta tighten the ship up.”
Top among Kerr’s concerns is reducing turnovers. The Warriors averaged 15.7 turnovers last season, tied with the Washington Wizards for the third-worst average in the NBA. Individually, Curry averaged 2.8 turnovers while Green averaged 2.7, something that the ESPN profile mentioned Kerr spoke about with the veteran forward.
Reducing turnovers is part of the greater discipline that he says the team needs next season.
Another priority for Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy, who also spoke to reporters on Friday, is constructing a younger roster that won’t be as worn down by back-to-back games and the grind of an 82-game regular season. The hope is that the Warriors will experience fewer injuries next season as a result.
“We need some younger legs, for sure,” Kerr said.
A major part of a younger roster will be whichever player Golden State selects with the No. 11 overall pick in June’s NBA Draft.
“In a strong draft, we feel like we can get a good player,” Dunleavy said. “But we’ll look at everything. If there’s offers for the pick to move up, move back, trade for a veteran player who can help us, we’ll look at all that stuff.”
In his latest mock draft for Yahoo Sports, NBA draft analyst Kevin O’Connor projected the Warriors to select Karim López, a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds, while shooting 33% on 3-pointers for the New Zealand Breakers this season. However, Golden State will have plenty of options leading up to the June 23 draft.
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