Steve Kerr will be remaining in The Bay for the near future.
Kerr agreed to a two-year deal to remain as head coach of the Warriors, ESPN reported Saturday.
The exact amount of the contract has yet to be disclosed, with league officials telling ESPN that the deal will keep Kerr as the highest-paid coach in the NBA annually.
Last season, Kerr made $17.5 million.
The contract came after three weeks of deliberations between Kerr and Golden State controlling owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy, in which they discussed the long-term outlook of the franchise.
“It was never going to be about money,” one team source said, according to ESPN. “We had to make the best basketball decision.”
It was a general consensus within the franchise that Kerr was going to stay with the Warriors since earlier this week.
Kerr re-signing was not always a foregone conclusion, however, as he announced during training camp in October that he would not seek a contract extension, opting to let his final season under contract play out and make a decision after.
The Warriors, who struggled with injuries throughout the year, finished this season with a 37-45 record and lost to the Suns in the play-in bracket.
“I still love coaching, but I get it,” Kerr told reporters the night they were eliminated in Phoenix, according to ESPN. “These jobs all have an expiration date. There is a run that happens, and when the run ends, sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas.”
Kerr, who joined the Warriors ahead of the 2014-15 season, has been at the helm of all of Golden State’s success, coaching the team to four NBA Finals championships and holds a career 604-353 regular season record.
The deal also likely will see Kerr coach the final days of Warriors legend Steph Curry’s playing career, who just finished his 17th NBA season.
“I want Coach to be happy,” Curry said following Golden State’s elimination. “I want him to be excited about the job. I want him to believe he’s the right guy for the job.
“I want him to have an opportunity to enjoy what he does. … He knows how I feel about him. That shouldn’t even need to be said.”
