When Steve Kerr became the head coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2014 after Mark Jackson, he inherited a team with young, rising stars like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Many expected this team to be good, but four titles and six NBA Finals appearances later, the Dubs ultimately turned themselves into this generation’s dynasty.
Curry’s legacy as one of the greatest players of all time is locked in. Thompson will go down as one of the greatest shooters ever, and Green has always been regarded as one of the best defensive players of this era. While it was the players on the court who won the games, it was Kerr who changed the culture and set the foundation for the Warriors to become what they are today.
That is why Kerr’s 557th victory on Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings and pulling even with Al Attles for the most coaching wins in team history is poetic.
In his 11th season with Golden State, Kerr has faced his greatest challenge this year. Through their first 15 games, the Warriors started fast with a 12-3 record. Then came multiple injury obstacles and uncertainty regarding the team’s overall demeanor. Even so, the Dubs’ resilience and mindset of being a contending team never wavered. This is what made the Jimmy Butler trade so impactful.
Butler, a player who is so invested in the game of basketball from a mental standpoint, fit in perfectly with the philosophies of Kerr, Curry, and Green. The Warriors have won 13 of the 14 games Butler has been on the court for, and they are now 38-28 after a 130-104 win against the Kings.
This win in particular is the turning point this season for the Warriors due to its symbolic meaning. Aside from keeping momentum on their side with another win, it was a night for Kerr and Curry to continue writing history.
Steph became the first player in NBA history to make 4,000 career 3-pointers on the same night Kerr tied Attles for the most wins in team history, prompting a much-needed locker room water celebration followed by Curry’s 37th birthday bash the entire team attended. The greatest takeaway from this party is that Curry, Green, and Butler were the last to leave, proving how quickly this group has bonded.
Locker room scenes from a HISTORIC night on #WarriorsGround pic.twitter.com/Z4lJP4Axwe
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 14, 2025
This is all Steve.
He is the one who created such a strong family-like bond for this organization, and he is equally important to the Warriors’ four championship runs as Curry and others.
Between Curry’s 4000th 3-pointer and Kerr’s 557th career win, Golden State is reaching a whole new pinnacle of success at the perfect time before the playoffs. In the aftermath of this key, Kerr explained why adversity didn’t negatively impact his team.
“Winning solves everything, enhances everything, covers up everything. This is what it’s about,” Kerr said after Thursday’s win. “Everybody is really enjoying themselves, contributing, (and) feeling good about things. I’m very proud of the group because when things weren’t going well, everybody really stuck with it and allowed the foundation to remain strong. Allowed us to find it.
“Obviously, we needed to make the trade to get to this point and Mike [Dunleavy Jr.] did a great job with that, but we just have really good, high-character people in our locker room and they stayed with it through that rough patch. Now we’re in a good place, but we got to keep it going.”
How Steve Kerr impacted Stephen Curry’s legendary rise
All Kerr ever knew during his playing days was winning. As a rookie, he made the Western Conference Finals with the Phoenix Suns in 1989, and he made the Eastern Conference Finals a few years later with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1992.
Of course, everyone knows of his contributions to three championship runs the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan made, including the 1997-98 “Last Dance” season.
Throughout his time in the NBA as a player, Kerr learned from playing alongside superstars like Jordan, Tim Duncan, and David Robinson. It was those lessons and teachings that molded him to be the perfect coach for Curry, Green, and the Warriors. After all, he won five championships in 15 seasons as a player.
As Golden State’s head coach, Kerr has posted a 557-302 record during the regular season, including this year. He is 99-41 in the playoffs with four championships. Curry has always been very appreciative of everything Kerr has taught him over the course of his legendary career, and has always stated that the team’s four championships are because of his head coach’s contributions.
With Kerr reaching a new milestone in his coaching career and on the verge of becoming the Warriors’ all-time winningest coach, Steph reflected on what this accomplishment means to him.
“He’s brought the best out of us. We joke all the time (how) both of us could have been in New York. Fate would have it that we were here,” Curry stated. “Taking that job in 2014, understanding that we were a really good team and he could, you know, try to elevate us to a championship-level team. We got it done that first year and obviously, the history that we created.
“I love his humility and his work ethic. His level of care. It’s not an easy job. Coaching is a very thankless job, but I do appreciate the fact that he has records and milestones that he can look back and be proud of. I’m sure for him, he thanks everybody on his staff and everybody that has committed to his style of coaching. He’s brought the best out of all of us. It’s been a hell of a ride.”
Of course, the Warriors know that this ride Curry alluded to is not over just yet.
The trade to acquire Butler resulted in Golden State once again finding the joy and passion that has allowed them to be so successful through the years. Gary Payton II recently compared the mood surrounding this team to that of the Dubs’ 2022 championship team, and there are a lot of similarities that can be made.
Aside from Curry playing at an MVP-like level, Butler is making greater contributions than Andrew Wiggins made in 2022, and this team’s depth is standing out late in the year against tired teams with smaller rotations. Kerr made it a point of emphasis heading into the All-Star break that the team’s main focus was rising from the play-in tournament region and becoming one of the six best teams in the Western Conference.
After picking up their sixth straight win on Thursday, the Warriors remain ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and LA Clippers for the 6-seed in the standings. Golden State is just three games behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets for the 4-seed in the conference.
Winning is all that matters. Butler has made that clear since his first day with the organization, and Curry continues to lead the team to key victories late in the regular season. Throughout all of the Warriors’ success in recent weeks, Kerr’s steadiness and consistency on the sidelines have gone unnoticed.
The Warriors’ family atmosphere
When a team loses, fans are quick to blame the coach for the organization’s mishaps. However, the coach of a team barely receives the praise they deserve in wins since the players dominate headlines and stories. This is the case with Kerr, as he deserves just as much attention as Curry and others have been getting during the Warriors’ 15-game span, where they have posted a 13-2 record.
From his very first game with the Dubs to Thursday night’s victory, Kerr has always had the trust and respect of his star players. These relationships and true bonds have allowed the Warriors head coach to build the franchise in his image, one that not only revolves around winning but doing so as a family.
“He changed everything. He’s been as important as anybody to what this organization has become,” Green said of Kerr tying Attles’ team record for wins by a head coach. “I always talk about the things that he’s taught me about winning. I try to pick up on little, small things, and there’s one thing that he’s taught me about winning that, especially when it comes to playoff time, I won’t share until I’m done playing because I refuse to give his secret away. But it’s a pretty incredible one.
“I think that more than anything, like, you can’t teach someone anything better than that — how to be a better winner. Just his temperament and the offense that he brought to this organization. The atmosphere that he brought to this organization. The family atmosphere — that was Steve bringing that. You walk in there after a game and it’s 10 kids running around the court. You come into a given practice and my kids are running around, and someone else’s kids are running around. That’s all Steve.”
Green also talked about how Kerr formed a bond between the organization’s leadership and the players through their friends and family. Everyone associated with the Warriors knows one another’s people, and that has helped build an unbreakable culture leading to a perennial championship-contending team.
“In this life that we live, we’re gone a lot. Whether you’re in this gym for nine or ten hours, whether you’re on the road for 14 days, and when you have a coach like that who understands those things, it just makes work that much better. You know, you can bring your kid to work knowing that you miss things. Bringing your family on a plane. Like, you talk to some other teams and they ain’t doing that. That’s insane, and he brought that culture to this team.
“All of that is a part of the success you’ve seen. It’s not just guys going out there and making shots or making an assist or getting a rebound. All of those things make a difference in a team and an organization. Steve came in and did that. We haven’t had many this year, but we always used to have those team dinners where you could bring 20 people. Steve brought that here,” Green continued. “These are memories that all of our friends have, all of our families have, we all have. We’ve been on this journey with Steve now for 11 years. The things that he brought here have allowed us to make these memories. If he didn’t make it that way, could we have really been on this journey for so long?
“It gets grueling at times, and just having those little things that impact your mood, that impact winning, that no one else sees, I think those things are more special than anything. I’m happy to see him become number one in this organization. It is very fitting and well-deserved. We need to help him keep chasing the overall NBA records.”
Kerr can become the Warriors’ leader in coaching wins on Saturday against the New York Knicks, whom Golden State recently defeated 114-102 on Mar. 4 in the Big Apple. Although the NBA’s all-time coaching wins record owned by San Antonio Spurs legend Gregg Popovich is obviously out of reach, there are still new heights for Kerr, Curry, and Green to reach together.
The goal of winning a fifth championship is more alive than ever before. Unlike many other teams in the Western Conference, the Warriors understand what it takes to win 16 games after the regular season has concluded. All it takes is a push in the right direction to get back on track, and that is what the Butler trade did for this team.
More obstacles will surely stand in the way of Golden State returning to glory at the top of the NBA before the start of the playoffs. However, as Green explained, the Warriors’ culture is just different. The championship belief is real within the walls of this organization, and everyone will agree this mindset is because of one man.
“That’s all Steve.”
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