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Steve Kerr has a theory as to why NBA coaches are getting fired despite their success.
Before the Warriors’ 133–95 win against the Suns on Tuesday, Kerr was asked about the Nuggets shocking decision to fire head coach Michael Malone after 10 years and not renew general manager Calvin Booth’s contracts despite the team’s 2023 title.
Malone—and Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins—were both among the longest-tenured coaches in the league before their firings, trailing only Kerr, Gregg Popovich, and Erik Spoelstra.
Earlier this season, the Kings fired Mike Brown just 31 games into the season after extending him on a three-year, $30 million contract in June 2024.
Coaches are hired to inevitably be fired one day, but Kerr has a theory as to why the turnover has become this frequent.
“I think one thing that’s happened is most teams are now owned by billionaires, big corporations,” Kerr told reporters. “So, we’re all more expendable. There’s so much money in the business now. There’s pluses and minuses to that. We’re all making bigger salaries than we were five years ago, but we’re much more vulnerable because I think a lot of owners aren’t that concerned with firing a guy and paying him to go away. So, again, this is the business we chose. We all love it. But it’s not the most stable profession, that’s for sure.”
Perhaps nobody embodies Kerr’s point more than former Pistons coach Monty Williams. When Detroit hired Williams in June 2023, it instantly reset the coaching market by giving him a record six-year, $78.5 million deal. Williams was a disaster in the Motor City, setting an NBA record with a 28-game losing streak and was fired a year into the season despite being owed $65 million.
As Kerr said, salaries are growing, including his own. In February 2024, he signed a two-year, $35 million contract extension to make him the highest-paid coach in the NBA.
The Nuggets are owned by the Kroenke family, which owns the Rams, Arsenal, and Avalanche among other teams; Stan Kroenke has a net worth of $18 billion. A real estate mogul, he married into the Walton family, which is one of the world’s richest. Grizzlies owner Robert Pera founded a tech communications company while Warriors owner Joe Lacob comes from private equity. Pera’s estimated worth is $10 billion while Lacob’s is $2.3 billion, according to Forbes.
The Memphis and Denver firings weren’t identical, but there were parallels. Both coaches had frosty relationships with their front offices.
Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman fired Jenkins months after replacing multiple coaches on his staff while Booth and Malone feuded for years over roster construction.
Kerr can’t relate to those issues, which is why he doesn’t have a timeline for when he’d want to stop coaching.
“I love what I do,” Kerr said. “I’m in an amazing position with great support from my ownership, my management, and obviously have talented players. The idea of continuing on with this group is very appealing. I love it every single day. But who knows how long that lasts?”
