After delaying talks last offseason, Steve Kerr and the Warriors are expected to work out a long-term contract extension next offseason according to an exclusive report by Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. Kerr elected to push the negotiations back a year due to health concerns related to a spinal fluid leak following multiple back surgeries in 2015. As long as Kerr doesn’t suffer any major setbacks this season, he’s planning on staying with the Warriors for a long time
“We just agreed we’d wait,” Kerr told The Athletic. “I’ve got two years left on my deal and wanted to make sure that everything went well this year health-wise. And I don’t anticipate any issues going forward.
“I don’t have any desire to be anywhere else. So I’m sure when we get down to it, we’ll come to an agreement pretty quickly.”
The desire to get a deal done appears mutual.
“I would expect him to be our coach for a long time,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said. “We did try, but I think he basically just wanted to wait and see how his health was, that was the primary thing.
“We had a couple years to go (on his contract, which runs through the 2018-19 season), so we understood that. He understood that. I suspect we’ll probably not deal with it during the season and next summer we’ll talk again.
“I would like to have him for a very long term. He’s fantastic. We love him.”
Kerr, 52, has helped lead the Warriors to the NBA Finals in each of this three seasons as head coach, winning the title in 2014-15, and 2016-17. Kerr’s .834 career winning percentage as an NBA head coach is currently the highest ever by more than 100 percentage points. Kerr is in the fourth year of a five-year, $25 million deal he signed in May of 2014.
Kerr has continued to keep his health issues close to the vest this season, but general manager and good friend Bob Myers believes Kerr is doing much better than he was towards the end of last season, when he missed 11 postseason games.
“I think he’s doing better. I can’t gauge where he is on a scale of 1 to 10, but I think it’s better than it’s been,” Myers said. “But it’s a question you probably have to ask him.
“Seems to be doing OK. Maybe the management is better. But as far as I view him, he seems OK.”