Stephen Curry smiled at his locker on Friday night when he realized Steve Kerr‘s new two-year extension now aligns with his own contract, which expires after the 2025/26 season, per Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Curry offered emphatic support for the deal.
“There’s a handful of player-coach and trio-coach stories in league history that are comparable to ours,” Curry said. “And that’s not by accident. … He’s been such a consistent presence. Not just the X’s and O’s, but of managing the lows and the highs, mainly the highs, that we’ve been at. People think it’s easy. But with success comes expectation. The nuance of keeping things together and managing not just in here, but managing up as well, it’s hard. It just reminds you of the special personality and character you have to have to do this job.”
Draymond Green, another key member of Golden State’s dynasty, was also happy to learn of Kerr’s extension, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
“I think it’s incredible,” Green said. “I wouldn’t want finish my time here with any other coach. The way he’s been to this franchise, what he’s done for us as players, the winning ways that he brought here, you can’t replace that. So, very happy for Steve and his family.”
Here’s more from the Pacific:
- After missing Thursday’s contest vs. the Lakers, Warriors defensive ace Gary Payton II was back in action on Friday against Charlotte, as Slater relays (via Twitter). Payton, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 11 minutes during the victory, has been limited to 21 games thus far in 2023/24 due to calf and hamstring strains.
- According to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links), Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox admitted on Tuesday that he’s been battling a right shoulder issue, but said the injury was minor and he hasn’t undergone an MRI because “it was never serious enough for me to do that.” There has been speculation that Fox might have been dealing with an ailment, as his offensive efficiency has waned a bit the past couple months after an excellent start to the 2023/24 campaign. The one-time All-Star had a strong performance in Thursday’s win over San Antonio, recording 28 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals while shooting 12-of-18 from the floor in 37 minutes.
- Head coach Mike Brown has continually stressed that the Kings need to improve their defense to have a shot at postseason success, Anderson writes for The Sacramento Bee. After being ranked No. 25 in defensive rating last season, Sacramento is currently No. 19 in that category this season. However, the offense — which was ranked No. 1 in the league in 2022/23 — has slipped to No. 14. “We know we’ve got to improve the offense back closer to what it was last year,” GM Monte McNair said after the trade deadline. “If we do that, I think we can make some noise, but we’ve got some work to do because the West is tough 1 to 12 or 13 this year and every game is going to be a dogfight.” Anderson considers whether the team’s coach and top front office executive are on the same page when it comes to the balance of offense and defense.
- As expected, Lakers superstar LeBron James returned to action on Friday vs. San Antonio after missing Thursday’s game with a left ankle injury that has been bothering him for some time. He was upgraded from questionable to probable before suiting up for the contest, tweets ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The 39-year-old finished with 30 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in 34 minutes.
Payton makes the warriors 2nd unit so much better bringing top defense when they need it.