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Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr

The Golden State Warriors have, since their run in the NBA’s play-in tournament ended a little less than two weeks ago, appeared to be an organization resigned to proceeding onto the 2026-27 season without coach Steve Kerr on board. While fans can debate Kerr’s value as a coach over the last 12 seasons, there’s no debating his record: Kerr led the Warriors to four championships and amassed a 604-353 record, giving him the most wins in franchise history and the best winning percentage.

Finding a replacement for a guy with that resume would figure to be a daunting task, but one that the Warriors would have to get busy on once the Kerr news came down–assuming he is set to retire.

But according to longtime Warriors reporter Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, the tide is changing on Kerr and his Golden State tenure. What has seemed like a quiet Kerr exit underway –he was said to be interviewing media agents for a presumed return to broadcasting–now is increasingly–has morphed into a possible return.

Steve Kerr Now ’50-50′ on Warriors Return

Kerr and the Warriors’ brass–GM Mike Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob–met on Monday to talk at length about the future, according to a report from ESPN, and will meet again next week. But far from closing the book on the Kerr era, Poole reports that a Kerr return has moved back to an even-money proposition.

He quoted a league source saying that Kerr sounded in his Monday meeting like someone who had a, “plan on coaching next season. He quoted a second source as saying, “I think it’s more like 50-50 that he comes back. When the season ended, I would have said it was at least 60-40 that he’d leave.”

Signals That Steve Kerr Wants Out

That means there were never overwhelming odds that Kerr was ready to punch out, even amid the report about him hiring an agent and another report that the Warriors had grown weary of Kerr’s willingness to speak out on political issues.

Also as a point that seemed to indicate Kerr would not return to the Warriors was the lengthy interview he gave to the New Yorker, in which he was very open about topics he might resist addressing if he were planning to coach in 2026-27–the idea of eliminating the 3-point line, details of his relationship with Draymond Green, and his admission of regret on not speaking out against China during the controversy surrounding Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong.

(The title of the article was, “Has Steve Kerr had Enough?”)

Green himself, who has a unique and tight relationship with Kerr despite all their past butting of heads, said he thought Kerr would be walking away.

Warriors Can Be Patient, But Assistant Coaches Can’t

But there is also the matter of timing–as Poole points out, the feeling around the NBA is that if Kerr were quitting, he would not have let things linger so long, especially because his staff is unsure of their jobs while he makes a decision.

Kerr himself is just about unemployed, as his contract expires at the end of this season. But, Poole writes, Kerr’s decision is not really related to his deal: “Whether Kerr returns will not be decided by the size of the contract that might come his way. This is not, per sources, a play for more money. This is, rather, about professional and personal principles.”