Steve Kerr’s future with the Warriors has everyone talking, but the franchise faces a far bigger dilemma

In the end, yes: Steve Kerr reached an agreement Saturday to remain on the Golden State Warriors’ bench for at least the next two seasons. The news, first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN, brings an end to weeks of negotiations in which leaks kept coming from both sides. In theory, the coach had very seriously considered retirement after a life devoted to basketball and more than a decade coaching in the best league in the world. But the Warriors, in full decline, insisted that he stay. And finally, his legendary figure, one of the best ever in his role, will embark on a new adventure with the only team he has ever coached.

Steve Kerr signs new Warriors deal amid NBA uncertainty

While the news is good for the Warriors, it does not seem rooted in any sporting plan, but rather in summoning the power of nostalgia. Kerr is one of the three figures still left from the last great dynasty in NBA history: the four rings and six Finals, the 73 wins, the records and the threes. Andre Iguodala retired, Bob Myers left the front office knowing what was coming, and Klay Thompson headed to the Mavericks to play alongside Luka Doncic (oh, dear). So the coach remained with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. And, barring a surprise, he will stay with them until judgment day.

Because that is what the Warriors appear to have decided: to accept a slow, gradual death that will arrive without a fight. Either they land Giannis Antetokounmpo on the market, something very difficult for many reasons – the player wants to stay in the East, the San Francisco franchise does not have an attractive project, the Heat have been strongly linked – or they are condemned to let things fade knowingly and without any real desire to stop it. This year they finished with a 37-45 record, 10th in the Western Conference. They had a small joy, paying tribute to their past by beating the Clippers in the play-in, but in the second round of that stage they fell to the Suns.

Stephen Curry and Draymond Green remain as Warriors fade

The Warriors are waiting to see what happens. They won the 2022 title in a tasty overtime, and in the four seasons since they have gone to 44, 46, 48 and 37 wins respectively, twice falling in the semifinals and twice missing the playoffs. The good times feel distant now: that dynasty that wreaked havoc, turned the best league in the world upside down and tasted victory as if there were nothing else to do. Now, at least, they can enjoy keeping their coach, who will turn 61 in September: an essential NBA figure, a brilliant mind who won five rings as a player, succeeded as an executive with the late Seven Seconds or Less Suns and triumphed as a coach. That remains in the memory. The rest is what it is: shadows and ash.

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