For the better part of a decade, the Golden State Warriors have been one of the NBA’s most successful franchises. Since Steve Kerr took over as the franchise’s head coach prior to the 2014-15 season, the Warriors have won four championships and have been to the playoffs eight times. And through all that, players like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson evolved into Hall of Fame talents.
But even when the Warriors were at the top of the basketball world, none of the success came from Kerr-picked players. Curry, Green and Thompson became the superstars they are today under Kerr, but none of those players started their careers coached by him. In fact, former NBA superstar DeMarcus Cousins joined Fan Duel’s Run it Back and spoke about Kerr’s struggle to develop young talent.
Kerr’s Problem With Development
“He just doesn’t handle young talent well,” Cousins said on the show. “He doesn’t develop young talent…we’ve seen one guy develop under Steve Kerr. The Warriors ran him off, that was Jordan Poole.”
Poole was an essential part of the team’s 2022 championship victory, averaging 18.5 points while filling in as a starter early in the season while Thompson recovered from a torn Achilles. But after an incident in an October 2022 practice that ended with Poole getting punched by Green, he was traded to the Washington Wizards following the 2022-23 season.
But aside from Poole, other young talents that have played for Kerr include James Wiseman, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga. Kuminga has shown flashes of talent, averaging a career high of 16.1 points in 74 games during the 2023-24 season, but injuries and inconsistent play have kept him for being an every night starter. Moody, the 14th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has been good, but has yet to average double figures in scoring through the first four seasons of his career. Wiseman, the second overall pick in 2020, averaged 11.5 points as a rookie, but spent a majority of his two seasons with the Warriors injured. He is now a free agent after missing a majority of this season following a ruptured Achilles.
Kerr’s Legacy
Regardless of Kerr’s ability to develop talent, there is no question that he is among the greatest coaches of all time. Winning a championship in his first season as a head coach, Kerr has consistently kept the Warriors relevant over the last 10 season– even in the years that they are not in the finals. The NBA Coach of the Year in 2016, the All-Star game head coach in 2015 and 2017 and named in the Top 15 Coaches in NBA history, Kerr is well on his way to the Hall of Fame when it is all said and done.
A five-time champion as a player, Kerr has nine championships in total and is one of 14 people– player, coach or executive to have nine rings or more. The highest paid coach in NBA history, signing a two-year, $35 million extension through 2025-26 in February 2024, Kerr warrants a lot of respect among the NBA and with the Warriors in win-now mode, will look to grow his legacy even more.
