Steve Kerr says he expects to coach for a long time

Despite complications after back surgery that have sidelined him, Steve Kerr says he plans to coach for a long time coming.

Over the last couple seasons, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has missed significant time due to complications from back surgery. Luke Walton parlayed a successful regular season stint (39-4 record) filling in as head coach in 2015-16 into the permanent job with the Los Angeles Lakers, and assistant Mike Brown coached the Warriors on a nearly undefeated run during the playoffs last year.

So there are questions about Kerr’s long-term future in coaching, as back issues don’t tend to just go away. But during a recent interview with Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle , Kerr, in what was described as a no-nonsense tone, attempted to set aside those concerns about his health.

“I fully expect to coach all year, That’s my expectation. And for many years to come.”

Even though he wasn’t coaching games during the playoffs, Kerr was present and engaged behind the scenes during Golden State’s run to a second title in three years. That bodes well for his health and future outlook, but the possibility of another back issue or related complications will linger around the corner for Kerr indefinitely.

I’m sure Kerr would have, and actually may have, said the same thing a year ago regarding his plan and expectation to coach all season. He almost made it too, until the playoffs, before he had to be sidelined.

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Kerr is one of the best coaches in the NBA, as he has proven capable of managing some of the unique personalities on the Warriors’ roster as much as winning a lot of games. His future in the profession has to be considered a year-to-year proposition at this point though, even with Kerr’s expected optimism about coaching “many years to come.”