With Warriors coach Steve Kerr entering the final year of his contract with Golden State, some have speculated that the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season could be his final tour with the organization.
Not if Stephen Curry has anything to say about it.
In an interview with ESPN’s Anthony Slater published Friday, the Warriors star guard expressed a desire to remain with Kerr through the end of his playing career, hoping to extend a partnership that has produced four NBA championships and countless unforgettable moments along the way.
“I don’t want to,” Curry told Slater when asked if he would play for a coach other than Kerr. “We deserve that, I feel. Things change in this league. We can only control so much. But I think we’re in a very unique situation that we deserve the opportunity [to ride it out].”
Kerr and Curry, of course, have proven themselves to be an outrageously successful leadership duo over the last 11 seasons. It’s a relationship that Kerr likens to other dynastic coach-player pairings in its fostering of success at the highest level.
“There’s a reason [Tom] Brady and [Bill] Belichick worked,” Kerr told Slater. “There’s a reason Phil [Jackson] and Michael [Jordan] worked. It has to click. There has to be a mutual respect and there has to be a fierce, competitive desire. Passion for the job. Passion for winning. When all is said and done, it might be the most proud thing that exists. The most proud dynamic of my career will be a collaboration with Steph.”
The strength of that collaboration is apparent to everyone in the Warriors’ world, especially ownership. As Curry tells it, management has never approached him about a potential coaching change.
“I would just assume there’s an understanding,” Curry told Slater.
Fellow Warriors mainstay Draymond Green held a similar read of the situation.
“Steve is Steph’s guy,” Green told Slater. “So even if there was ever a thought [to let Kerr go], it don’t work. You speak to the Tim [Duncan] and [Gregg Popovich] thing. That’s his guy. You see MJ, like, ‘If Phil ain’t here, I ain’t here.’ It’s along those same lines. There’s no Steph without Steve.”
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