Steve Kerr Unbothered by Potential Coaching Staff Changes Mid-Season

The biggest buzz in the NBA as of recent that didn’t involve on-the-court matters was the firing of former Warriors assistant Luke Walton from his position as head coach of the Sacramento Kings. The Kings, who have the longest active playoff drought in the league at 15 straight. If they miss the playoffs this year, they’d hold the record for longest playoff drought in NBA history.

As Sacramento looks to shake things up, their love of Steve Kerr’s staff and constant desire to switch things up has led many to believe they could pursue current Golden State assistant coach and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, who has been sidelined most of the year with an unspecific leg injury. While Atkinson works his way towards returning to the bench (he most recently was able to attend his first coaches meeting), there doesn’t seem to be too much worry on Coach Kerr’s part that he could jump ship.

“It’s not a common occurrence and it’s nothing I’ve given a second thought to this year” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game earlier this week.

“My feeling is always, if guys on our staff have an opportunity to become a head coach or elevate from a behind the bench to a front of the bench role, I’m excited for them. That’s exactly what they should be thinking; improving their careers and moving up the ladder.”

Atkinson wouldn’t be the first - and certainly wouldn’t be the last - coach from Kerr’s staff to take on an NBA head coaching job. Of course there is Luke Walton, who famously was interim head coach as Kerr dealt with some health issues in 2015-2016, when the Warriors went 24-0 to start the season. He ended up with the Los Angeles Lakers before he was hired by Sacramento. Assistant coach Alvin Gentry, after the 2014-2015 season, spent a few years as the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans before ironically enough serving as interim coach for the Kings.

Atkinson enjoyed some success with the Nets when the team was in more of a rebuilding phase, actually coaching them to the 6th seed in the 2019 season. With the arrivals of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, however, Atkinson stepped down as the Nets head coach and took a job as an assistant for the Clippers last season before returning to Golden State this season.

While his name hasn’t been through the grapevine as much as Atkinson’s, Mike Brown is another name that could be on the list for a new job. Former head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron’s first stint there, he led the Cavs to 5 straight years of making it past the first round before spending time with both the Lakers and the Cavaliers again. Brown, who was acting head coach in the 2017 playoffs as Steve Kerr dealt with back pain, led the Warriors to a 12-0 record before they reached the Finals.

Brown is also famously the head coach of the Nigerian national basketball team. His coaching experienced is pretty unparalleled in terms of great hires, having posted only one season with a losing record in every stint he had as a head coach over an 82-game season.

With two former assistants moving on to head coaching jobs and two former head coaches now on the staff, the Warriors coaching is perhaps one of the most prolific in the league. It’s not surprise that franchises look to guys who have been a part of a winning culture for so long to try and turn their luck around. But as far as Steve Kerr is concerned, those franchises won’t get the opportunity to recruit them until after the season is over.

(Photo credit: Andrew D. Bernstein / Getty Images)