The Warriors coach and their star player are no longer on the same contractual timeline.
Thursday was a big day for Bay Area sports contract extensions. The contract situation that has taken the region by storm all summer finally got resolved, with the San Francisco 49ers agreeing to a four-year, $120 million extension with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. But shortly before that news broke? Some less stressful, less dramatic, less speculated on extension news: Steph Curry tacked on an additional year to his Golden State Warriors contract for a cool $62.6 million.
It’s not shocking news, but it is encouraging news. Curry, who will now eclipse $500 million in salary for his career, is showing faith in the direction of the organization by adding on to his contract when he already had two years remaining.
And it brings up an interesting question: Will Steve Kerr also sign an extension?
Kerr is only half a year removed from a record-breaking extension of his own, when he agreed to a two-year, $35 million contract on top of his expiring deal. So it would be a little funny if he turned around and signed another extension.
But it would also make sense. The reason for Kerr’s extension being for two years was blatantly obvious to anyone following the Warriors. That deal put Kerr on the same timeline as Curry, with both franchise legends under contract through the 2025-26 season. But now Curry has added on a year, and will remain with the Warriors through at least the 2026-27 season … which is also the length of Draymond Green’s contract. And so it would make sense for Kerr to lock in another year, and keep the timeline of that trio together.
Curry has been fairly open that he doesn’t want to play for any coach other than Kerr (though it’s worth noting that Klay Thompson had also said as much). And you don’t have to be an expert at reading between the lines to see that Kerr probably won’t want to keep coaching beyond Curry’s playing days. So if I had to bet, I’d say that Curry and Kerr end their careers at the same time.
That said, there’s not a lot of pressure for Kerr to sign an extension. While Curry’s contract shows faith in the Dubs, it also makes sense for him to lock up the maximum amount of money for 2026-27 now, instead of waiting and risking injury or a decline in play. There’s not quite as much risk for Kerr to let his contract near completion before tacking on additional years, and his job remains quite safe.
Still and all, he’ll likely coach the Warriors in 2026-27, so why not get that wrapped up? Kerr and Curry have already had their histories intertwined this summer, as they both won gold at the 2024 Olympics and then spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
Why not add one more group activity?