Warriors don't look far for new G League head coach
The Santa Cruz Warriors needed a new coach. They went with a member of the family. Literally.
Golden State promoted Steve Kerr's son to be the new head coach of their G League affiliate. The elder Kerr has been head coach of the Warriors since 2014, when Nick was a 21-year-old playing basketball at the University of San Diego.
The younger Kerr was an assistant coach in Santa Cruz for the past two seasons, after starting his career with his father's old coach and mentor, Gregg Popovich, in San Antonio. Popovich used to joke that Kerr was a spy for his father, and the team "voted him out" of the video room before their first-round series in 2018.
Kerr moved on to work for his dad after that season, acting as a video coordinator and player development coach for three seasons. Now he's getting his own team to run, as much as any G League coach has independence even when their dad isn't their boss.
The Warriors love having so-called "nepo babies" on their staff. Owner Joe Lacob's son Kirk is the team's executive vice president of basketball operations. Kirk started his own career in the G League as the general manager of the Dakota Wizards, who moved to Santa Cruz a year later and became the Warriors. His brother Kent also served as the Santa Cruz GM from 2016-19, before becoming the Warriors' Executive Director of Team Development.
While there's no reason to believe any of the family members in the Warriors organization are bad at their jobs, hiring direct family members does run the risk of neglecting other qualified candidates for these roles. This happened in Sacramento as well, where Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé hired his daughter Anjali Ranadivé as GM of their G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings.
There's a danger in the Warriors' brain trust being dominated by members of the Lacob family, especially with longtime GM Bob Myers gone. That could lead to a lack of diversity in opinions and experience. Are Kirk and Kent really going to defy their father's wishes on big decisions?
If Nick Kerr has learned from his father, a four-time NBA champion as head coach and five-time champion as a player, Santa Cruz should be in great shape. But it's no guarantee. For every Kyle Shanahan, there have been plenty of David Shulas.
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