Already the winningest coach in franchise history, Warriors’ Head Coach Steve Kerr became the fourth-fastest coach in NBA history to reach 600 career wins with Monday's victory over the Washington Wizards. Kerr is the fourth active coach (28th overall) to accomplish this feat, joining Doc Rivers (Milwaukee Bucks), Rick Carlisle (Indiana Pacers) and Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat). He has the highest career winning percentage of the group and the most championships (4). Among coaches with at least 600 career wins, Kerr ranks third in career winning percentage (63.6%), only trailing 11-time champion Phil Jackson (70.4%) and nine-time champion Red Auerbach (66.1%). He is also one of seven coaches in league history with 600-plus regular season wins and 100-plus playoff wins. Between his coaching and playing career, Kerr has won nine NBA championships.
Kerr joined the Warriors in 2015 and became the third rookie coach to win a championship since the league merged in 1976. He inherited a 51-win team that had lost in the first round the year prior, improved them by 16 games in the regular season and took them three rounds further in the playoffs. In one year under Coach Kerr, All-NBA Second Team guard Stephen Curry turned into the league MVP, sharpshooting guard Klay Thompson became a first-time All-Star and backup forward Draymond Green became an All-Defensive First Team member.
In his second season with the Warriors, Kerr became the winningest single-season coach in NBA history by winning 73 games. He took the Dubs back to the NBA Finals within a game of another championship, with Green joining Curry and Thompson as All-Stars and Curry becoming the first unanimous MVP in league history.
Fast forward a decade later and Kerr led the Warriors to two more championships, three more finals appearances and at least one playoff series win in six of the last nine seasons. He has done so with a unique leadership style, empowering his stars to play the ideal brand of basketball to maximize their potential. Kerr has excelled at developing interpersonal relationships with his players, knowing when to push the right buttons to ensure their mindset is where it needs to be. He has built an infrastructure centered on joy and a competitive spirit, evident in both his players and his coaching staff. Kerr has built off the leadership he received as a player, playing for legendary coaches like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich.
On the current roster, Kerr has molded several late second-round draftees and undrafted players into quality rotation pieces, including Draymond Green (35th pick), Gary Payton II (undrafted), Quinten Post (52nd pick), Will Richard (56th pick), Gui Santos (55th pick) and Pat Spencer (undrafted). The Warriors have had just one losing season under Kerr's leadership, which was when he had Stephen Curry for just five games and Klay Thompson missed the entire year.
This season, when he’s had Curry and Jimmy Butler III in the lineup, the Warriors have a 20-13 record, which serves as further proof of his ability to maximize the team’s potential when he has his stars available. Many of the league’s greatest coaches are synonymous with their lead superstar — Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal for Phil Jackson, Tim Duncan for Gregg Popovich, Bill Russell for Red Auerbach — Stephen Curry has been that player for Kerr.
“Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan were collaborators,” Kerr said. “Phil would lead the team with Michael and he would empower people. He would put his foot down when he had to. He was an amazing communicator and that's how I try to coach the Warriors.”
Curry has been candid about his affinity for his former coach Mark Jackson but Kerr was quickly able to win him over due to his transparent communication style and collaborative approach.
“Sometimes you have coaches that want to be the hero, but Kerr wanted to take our success as a great defensive team, a really talented offensive team and unlock it further,” Curry said.
Curry has praised Kerr for his ability to get everyone to know their role and buy into it for the betterment of the team. He has also appreciated his desire to build a relationship with each player being open and honest and getting to know them on a personal level. In fact, Curry shared that Coach Kerr is the only coach he knows that gives handwritten letters to his players.
"Basketball is different from any other sport because there's so few players,” Kerr said. “You have to walk a fine line being a coach in the NBA these days. People have to know you're in charge. The players have to feel that and they have to respect that, but they have to feel that you're collaborating with them. I interact with every player on a really personal level and connect with them. That breaks down a lot of walls for sure.”
Kerr has repeatedly shared a desire to "ride it out" until the end alongside Curry as the faces of a transcendent era for Warriors basketball. And if history is any indication, this player-coach duo is more than capable of stacking more wins together.