Warriors GM is ‘optimistic’ Kerr will return in 2024-25

Steve Kerr is going into the last year of his contract with the Golden State Warriors. New Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. thinks that it won’t be his last year coaching the team.

There’s a few reasons to think Kerr’s tenure as Warriors coach could end after this one, his tenth running the team. Chief among them is his unresolved contract status for 2024-25. While the terms of his deal aren’t public, Kerr likely expects a raise after the market for coaches exploded in the past year.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich signed a five-year extension worth a reported $80 million in July. Monty Williams got $78.5 million for six years from the Detroit Pistons, a few weeks after he was fired by the Phoenix Suns. If Williams, a coach who has made it to the NBA Finals five fewer times than Kerr and won four fewer titles, gets over $13 million per year, the price for Kerr has gone up.

That was also the case with executive salaries as former team president Bob Myers approached the end of his deal last year. Former Denver team president Tim Connelly got a big raise - and ownership equity - to join the Minnesota Timberwolves last summer. While owner Joe Lacob said Myers “had been compensated very well to this point,” Myers was reportedly not one of the NBA’s six highest-paid executives, despite being the architect of four title teams.

Kerr’s situation is different, according to Dunleavy, who only has his current job because the Warriors couldn’t get a new deal done with Myers. But Dunleavy believes Kerr has communicated more interest in returning than Myers did. Working out a new deal could have been harder since Kerr was in Asia for weeks with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup. Kerr is also locked in to coach at the Tokyo Olympics, for a team that will reportedly include his old friend Kevin Durant.

There’s no reason for Warriors fans to panic about Kerr’s status. Unless he announces he’s starting a podcast. That’s what Myers did midway through his contract negotiations, and it laid the foundation for him to leave and join ESPN as a broadcaster.

Kerr has established his broadcasting bona fides already with his extensive work with TNT, but you never know when the siren song of podcasting will lure another victim. Just ask Myers, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, or even former president Barack Obama.

What could Steve Kerr’s podcast be? We have some pitches.

Kerr Your Enthusiasm: Each week, Coach Kerr welcomes a different actor from Larry David’s acclaimed sitcom, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to discuss basketball, their acting process, and leadership. Listen as Kerr talks to “Krazee-Eyez Killa” actor Chris Williams about being a professional magician. Cringe as Susie Essman curses out Kerr for playing Anderson Varejao in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals! And shake your head in confusion as Kerr tries to get a word in when Richard Lewis discusses his issues with NBA arena restrooms.

Marcus Smartless: Each week, Kerr joins Will Arnett and Jason Bateman to complain about which NBA player “broke the code” that week. Whether it’s Marcus Smart diving at Steph Curry’s legs, Dillon Brooks hitting Gary Payton II in mid-air, or Festus Ezeli refusing to retweet Kerr’s favorite Lincoln Project video, Kerr will let no codebreaker rest, while Bateman asks childish questions about basketball rules and Arnett makes fun of him. There will be 8-10 minutes of ads between each segment.

Cereal: In this NPR co-production, Kerr investigates the strange NBA career of former Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen. What happened when the Bulls had a mutiny during practice? Why didn’t he call a timeout when his own player was injured? Why did he bring a time clock to the locker room? How does he explain the Nisha Call? And does he really celebrate by eating dry cereal?

The Even Older Man And The Three: Just a straight-up rip-off of J.J. Redick’s podcast.

My Favorite Mulder: Steve Kerr interviews his favorite Mulders. But because he manages to get David Duchovny on the first episode, the remaining episodes all feature awkward chats with Canadian guard Mychal Mulder, who won’t stop asking why the Warriors didn’t sign him to a two-way deal in 2022.

The BS Report: Look, if Bill Simmons isn’t going to use the name anymore, why doesn’t Kerr take it and hope no one notices?

Pardon My Tacko: Kerr chats with 7’6” center Tacko Fall about global politics in his native Senegal and what’s going on with his Chinese Basketball Association team, Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings.

Steve, you can contact me if you’d like to further develop these million-dollar ideas. Even if Mike Dunleavy is optimistic you’ll say no.