The Golden State Warriors' season seemed like it might be dead in the water when Jimmy Butler went down with a torn ACL in January. Despite the run they were going on in the month prior to that injury, their secondary star going down with a devastating injury took all the wind out of their sails.
It didn't help that Steph Curry then missed 27 straight games with a knee injury, and then Moses Moody suffered a freak knee injury on an otherwise routine fast break. Thus, the Warriors crawled into the Play-In Tournament, and though they got a huge boost of confidence from an impressive comeback victory over the Clippers in the 9 vs. 10 matchup, they just didn't have enough in the tank to take down the Suns to make it into the playoffs.
With a long offseason ahead of them, the Warriors' front office must now make decisions on a few things. That includes draft picks, free-agent signings, re-signing current players, and more. First and foremost, though, owner Joe Lacob and GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. may need to decide who will lead the Warriors from the bench going forward.
Steve Kerr Addresses Future As Warriors Coach Further
After the Warriors' loss to the Suns, Steve Kerr initially had a wider perspective when answering questions about his future with the Warriors, simply saying he and the Warriors would need some time to rest first before any discussions took place. Later in his press conference, though, Kerr was a bit more definitive about his side of the equation.
"I'm definitely not going and coaching somewhere else next year in the NBA. I would never walk away from Steph. But all this stuff has to be aligned and right. Those are all discussions that we'll have, that's what I said from the beginning of the season."
Kerr also gave some of his thoughts about this season and how it turned out.
"I felt great coming into this year. I thought we had a real chance. Jimmy and Moses going down, obviously it took us off track. But we have to account for all of that stuff. Just a phenomenal organization. Joe is a great owner, Mike is a wonderful GM. I'm lucky to work with them. Like I said, we'll all put our heads together in the next couple of weeks."
Kerr And Curry Have Been A Dynamic Duo
It might be a bit odd to refer to a coach and their star player as a duo, considering they don't actually play together on the court, but Steve Kerr and Steph Curry are about as close as it gets.
In the 12 years that Kerr has coached, starting in the 2014-15 season, he owns a 517-216 record, a 70.5% winning percentage that translates to a 58-win pace in a normal 82-game season. However, without Curry on the court, that record drops to just 87-137, a 38.8% winning percentage that would be just a 32-win pace across 82 games.
On the flip side, before Kerr became coach of the Warriors, Curry's career record in his five seasons in the NBA was below .500 at 166-170, a far cry from the dominance he's exhibited since then with Kerr at the helm.
No matter how you want to contextualize it with teammate quality or the state of the rest of the league, it's clear that these two have been vital for each of their careers.