Steve Kerr contemplates his future after Warriors’ play-in loss to Suns

PHOENIX — Steve Kerr doesn’t know if he’ll be back for a 13th season with the Warriors.

“It may still go on,” Kerr said Friday night, after his 12th season at the helm ended in a 111-96 play-in loss to the Suns. “It may not.”

The uncertainty and potential finality of the situation had been bubbling under the surface ever since Kerr made the decision to coach this season on an expiring contract. It left open the door that it could be his last with the only team he’s coached, where he won four championships.

And where he still has Steph Curry.

“It’s part of the equation,” Kerr said. “I don’t want to walk away from Steph.”

Yet, Kerr seemed at least at ease with the concept of his coaching mortality as their season came to a close Friday night. He did his best to keep the team’s focus on the court all year. In the waning moments, Kerr huddled with the two players there with him from the beginning and said the quiet part out loud.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if it is the last time, I just want to share this moment,” Curry recalled Kerr telling him and Draymond Green. “That was kind of a jolt of a message.”

“Just appreciating this year, all years we’ve been together,” Green said. “Maybe the last time.”

“But,” Curry added, “he left the door open.”

Speaking to reporters shortly after sharing the moment with Curry and Green, Kerr didn’t commit one way or another but seemed open to the idea of it being their last one together.

“I still love coaching. But I get it: These jobs have an expiration date,” Kerr said. “There’s a run that happens and when the run ends, sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas and all that.”

Kerr, 60, offered no definitive answer in the immediate aftermath of the loss. He said he planned to take “a week or two” to think things over, then sit down with general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and owner Joe Lacob and come to a “collaborative decision.”

“We’ve always had a great partnership and collaboration,” Kerr said. “Just see where they are. And I’ll tell them where I am. And we’ll talk about what’s next for the Warriors. What the plan is this offseason. … If (they part ways), I will be nothing but grateful for the most amazing opportunity any person could have, to coach this franchise in front of our fans in the Bay and to coach Steph Curry, to coach Dray, the whole group.”

In 12 seasons, Kerr has coached the Warriors to a 604-353 regular-season record, overseeing a dynasty that made six trips to the NBA finals and hung four banners.

Green, who was still coming off the bench entering his third season when Kerr was hired, was asked if he could imagine playing for anybody besides him.

“No,” he said. “I couldn’t.”

Green said he “didn’t make much” out of Kerr not signing an extension before the year. It reflected “his comfort level in who he is and what he is and what he has to offer.” At the same time, he couldn’t help but worry that the unresolved situation could lead to Kerr’s departure.

“I think it’d be pretty crazy not to think that’s a possibility,” he said. “I hope not.”

Curry seemed to be taken by surprise by Kerr’s frank acknowledgement in private and to reporters shortly thereafter. He said he hadn’t talked to Kerr about his future, “but it sounds like he’s put a lot of thought into it.” He hopes the Warriors “approach it differently” next season, but he believes Kerr is the man for the job.

“I want Coach to be happy. I want him to be excited about the job. I want him to believe he’s the right guy for the job,” Curry said. “I want him to have an opportunity to enjoy what he does. Whatever that means for him, everybody’s plan is their own, and I’m not gonna tell anybody what to do. He knows how I feel about him. That shouldn’t even need to be said.”

The Warriors’ 37-45 record was their second-worst season only the second time they have finished with a losing record under Kerr. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody suffered knee injuries that will bleed into next season, Curry missed a chunk of time and the team had to readjust from its expectations from competing for a championship to competing in the play-in.

If this was it, that at least won’t be the reason.

“I enjoyed it, believe it or not,” Kerr said. “Because I love coaching. I love being with all the staff and the players. I love being in the fight. … So despite the injuries, despite the adversity, despite the struggles, I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed it everyday. Things didn’t go our way, obviously. That’s part of it, too. Some years go your way. Some years don’t. This year didn’t.”

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