Steve Kerr strongly considered retirement throughout Warriors season

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr decided to continue his tenure with the organization on a multi-year deal to keep him as the NBA’s highest-paid coach.

But that almost didn’t happen. He seriously contemplated retirement, according to ESPN.

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Although he never went through with the decision, there have been multiple instances where retirement has crossed his mind, per ESPN.

ESPN says he discussed retirement for the first time in June 2025, about a month after the Warriors lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals in five games, losing star Stephen Curry to injury in the process.

“My wife and I have been talking about it a lot,” Kerr told ESPN’s Wright Thompson then. “I have a year left on my contract. Maybe one more season. Maybe two. When Steph Curry and Draymond Green leave, the franchise deserves a clean start. We are one injury from completely falling apart.”

That’s nearly what happened during the 2025-26 campaign. The huge blow was losing Jimmy Butler to a torn ACL in January, especially as the team was starting to roll.

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Even before then, retirement had crossed Kerr’s mind. The Warriors lost an overtime game to the Toronto Raptors, a contest they led for most of the game. The loss didn’t sit well with Kerr.

“I think things have run out here,” he said. “It’s just time to move on. For me and for them. I’m probably being too emotional after yet another close loss, but it’s probably true. … We will commiserate and drink beer and watch the game on our computers and complain about all the dumb plays we made.”

That loss was in late December. Golden State turned into one of the better teams through January until Butler got hurt. About a week and a half later, they lost Curry for 27 straight games to runner’s knee.

The battered Warriors scraped their way to the 10th seed, somehow finding themselves still in NBA Play-In contention, as the season drew to a close. Even then, Kerr said he had his mind made up on calling it quits after the season, before the Warriors played a March 25 game against the Nets.

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He told ESPN’s Thompson that he spoke with…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/steve-kerr-strongly-considered-retirement-223441403.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-14 22:34:00

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