Warriors coach Steve Kerr (L) and governor Joe Lacob
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Head coach Steve Kerr (L) and governor Joe Lacob of the Golden State Warriors
Nick Kerr is set to join Steve Kerr on the Golden State Warriors‘ bench next season, NBA insider Marc Stein reports.
“The Warriors are installing their head video coordinator Lainn Wilson as the new head coach of their G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, with Nick Kerr poised to return to the Warriors’ coaching staff,” Stein wrote on X on Wednesday, June 18.
The Santa Cruz Warriors made it official with an Instagram post celebrating Nick Kerr’s promotion.
Nick Kerr leaves the G League with a 59-44 record over the past two seasons as the head coach, identical 20-14 records in the regular season leading to consecutive playoff appearances. He was the third coach in franchise history to achieve that feat.
Nepotism Issue
When he was named the head coach of the Warriors’ G League affiliate, he faced nepotism criticisms, which he acknowledged in a 2023 interview with Mercury News.
“I would never have gotten into the NBA without a family connection,” Nick Kerr told the Mercury News.
Instead of a pushback, the younger Kerr embraced the criticism.
“I don’t blame anyone for saying I have privilege, they’re right,” Kerr told the Mercury News. “… I had not even a crack in the door, I had the door wide open for me.”
But while the younger Kerr’s honesty was refreshing, his predecessor quickly defended his protege.
“If anything, it honestly might’ve worked against him,” Warriors director of player development Seth Cooper told the Mercury News.
Cooper revealed Steve Kerr’s eldest son was chosen among a dozen applicants because of his familiarity with the Warriors’ system.
“You look at a guy who might’ve spent time on the Golden State staff in the video and player development world and then was an assistant coach, and last year, [the] top assistant with us in Santa Cruz, that person — with the natural progression — would become a head coach,” Cooper told the Mercury News.
Nick Kerr did not disappoint as his coaching record speaks for itself. But more importantly, several Santa Cruz Warriors got a call-up from Pat Spencer to Quinten Post.
Nick Kerr Climbed His Way Up
While his father handed him the keys to the NBA door, the Nick Kerr worked his way inside to get to where he is now.
After his college basketball career ended, he spent one season as a graduate assistant at the University of California-Berkeley, where he also played his final year after three years at the University of San Diego.
He moved to the NBA, initially with the San Antonio Spurs as a quality assurance assistant in the 2017-18 season. He eventually ended up with the Warriors the following season as assistant video coordinator after he found himself in an awkward situation when the Spurs and Warriors met in the playoffs.
Two seasons later, he was promoted to co-video coordinator and player development assistant. Then, his big break came during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was assigned as an assistant coach with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the bubble.
“Ever since I first met him, you can always tell that he really cared about it, worked hard at it and wanted to get better and learn,” Cooper told the Mercury News in 2023. “Definitely wasn’t taking any shortcuts to being a coach.”
Before Kerr was named head coach in the G League, he was Cooper’s top assistant coach in the G League. That role, which includes managing the rotation and substitutions and helping handle Warriors’ two-way players on assignment in Santa Cruz, prepared him for the head coaching job.