Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will be working with a member of his family moving forward.
Kerr’s son Nick has joined Golden State’s coaching staff following a stint as the head coach of the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors. Santa Cruz is Golden State’s G League affiliate.
The younger Kerr has built a nice resume. He worked as an intern for the San Antonio Spurs, then he worked in player development and video coordination with Golden State for a few seasons. That preceded his time with Santa Cruz in the G League, where he started as an assistant before earning the squad’s head-coaching spot.
However, former Warriors part-owner Chamath Palihapitiya isn’t convinced that the younger Kerr’s qualifications are what got him his new coaching job in the NBA. Rather, he made it clear in a post on X that he chalks up the younger Kerr landing the job to nepotism, as his father is the team’s longtime head coach.
“my understanding is that several recruiting firms were hired and they ran a rigorous candidate search more than 10 times and each time it was his son that kept coming back as the most qualified candidate,” Palihapitiya wrote on X in response to the news.
“love when that happens.
“just kidding. this is nepotism.
“that said, its ok and many families focus on this as an explicit strategy for advantaging their progeny. but for it to work, however, its must be called out so that everyone acknowledges the elephant in the room. this is the only thing that allows folks who get this kind of advantage an actual chance of crushing it versus being crushed by the weight of it.
“good luck to nick.”
It’s not difficult to understand why the elder Kerr’s influence likely carries a whole lot of weight within the Warriors organization. Golden State enjoyed a dynasty under his leadership, as the team won four NBA titles in a span from 2015 to 2022, and the Warriors are the last NBA team to repeat as champions as well.
However, whether or not nepotism is responsible for the younger Kerr’s hire is up for debate. It’s likely that his father’s NBA roots got the younger Kerr’s foot in the door and haven’t hurt his career prospects working in the league, but the younger Kerr also put together two productive seasons coaching Santa Cruz before he landed the gig with Golden State.
He became one of just three head coaches in team history to lead Santa Cruz to consecutive playoff appearances. Santa Cruz ended up with an identical regular-season record of 20-14 in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns under the younger Kerr’s watch, meaning the team had a combined 40-28 record in the regular season during his tenure.
That record, particularly for such a young coach, is nothing to scoff at, and the younger Kerr could have a future in the NBA’s coaching ranks for more reasons than just who his father is. The 32-year-old will try to stake his claim as one of the better young coaching minds in the entire league in the coming years.
