With their 97-94 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday night, the Golden State Warriors moved into 6th in the Western Conference standings. But the victory was also a special one for the franchise, as it was head coach Steve Kerr’s 558th regular season win, moving him past the late great Al Attles for the most wins in franchise history.
In a special locker-room ceremony after the game, Wilhelmina Attles, wife of the Hall of Fame coach, presented Kerr with the game ball to commemorate the occasion.
“It was a great moment being awarded the game ball by the Attles family, it was really beautiful to sort of be honored by their presence,” Kerr said. “Obviously Al Attles is Mr. Warrior forever and the record is kind of surreal to even think that this could happen. But as I said earlier it’s a reflection of our organizational strength and stability and the talent level over the last 11 years since I’ve been here, so I’m incredibly lucky to be part of this organization and part of this city. Very humbled by the honor because of Al’s greatness and what he means to the franchise.”
Over the past decade, the Warriors have been one of the models of consistency in the NBA with Kerr at the helm. As a player, the 59 year old was a 5x NBA champion. As a coach, he’s won 4 titles with the Warriors in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022.
Already voted as one of the top 15 coaches in NBA history by his peers, Kerr succeeded Mark Jackson as head coach for Golden State, signing a 5 year deal on May 14th, 2014. His hiring coincided with the Warriors having a break out season, posting a 67-15 record, and winning the championship in his first year at the helm.
Warriors star Draymond Green, not usually one to mince words, was quick to laud his coach for setting the tone early in his rookie coaching campaign and overhauling the Warriors culture.
“He changed everything,” Green said. “He has been as important as anybody in what this organization’s become. The things that he’s taught me about winning, not just me, but I tried to pick up on little, small things. There’s one thing that he’s taught me about winning, especially when it comes to playoff time, that I won’t share until I’m done playing because I refuse to give his secret away, but it’s a pretty incredible one.”
It’s worth noting that during the 2015-16 season, Kerr was sidelined following a surgical procedure on his back. As a result, assistant Luke Walton acted as interim head coach for the first half of the season, posting a 39-4 record during Kerr’s absence. Those wins technically count as Kerr’s, which allowed him to reach his 558th victory in just 860 regular season games.
Up next for the Warriors is a home date with the Denver Nuggets on Monday at 10pm ET. They then take on the Bucks and Raptors before heading out on a pivotal 6 game road trip as they enter the homestretch of the NBA season.
Photo: Cyrus Saatsaz. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.