After Steve Kerr’s record two-year, $35 million contract extension, star Steph Curry had high praise for the Golden State Warriors head coach.
Per The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II, Curry complimented Kerr’s consistency as a coach, his ability to manage expectations and his character.
“There’s a handful of player-coach and trio-coach stories in league history that are comparable to ours,” Curry said. “And that’s not by accident. … He’s been such a consistent presence. Not just the X’s and O’s, but of managing the lows and the highs, mainly the highs, that we’ve been at. People think it’s easy. But with success comes expectation. The nuance of keeping things together and managing not just in here, but managing up as well, it’s hard. It just reminds you of the special personality and character you have to have to do this job.”
Kerr’s extension, which makes him the highest-paid head coach in NBA history, is well warranted. He’s found plenty of success with Golden State, leading the Warriors to four championships and six Finals appearances.
The two-year extension through the end of the 2025-26 season aligns with Curry’s four-year, $215.3 million contract, so the pairing will be together for the coming years as they look to continue adding to what has already been one of the most successful dynasties in NBA history.
The Warriors have entered a new era in recent years, though. Since its last championship in 2022, Golden State hasn’t found much success and has struggled its way through the 2023-24 season.
The Warriors sit in 10th place in the Western Conference at 29-26 and are threatening to miss the playoffs if they don’t sharpen things up in the last few months of the regular season. The Warriors have missed the playoffs just twice since the Kerr era began in 2014.
The Warriors are making a solid push as of recently, though. They have won nine of 11 games so far in February with Curry guiding them with his 29 points per game this month.
As Curry said, Kerr has a “special personality,” and the Warriors’ will be leaning on him to guide them through the rest of the season.
