[Source Article by The Mercury News’ Madeline Kenney – “Warriors’ G League coach Kerr reflects on his path, concerns over nepotism”](https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/24/warriors-g-league-coach-kerr-reflects-on-his-path-concerns-over-nepotism/)
### Important Note: His name is now (and has been) “Nicholas” Kerr.
This isn’t a new sudden change btw. Anyone who is weird like me and checked the Sea Dubs’ personnel website previously has seen him being referred as “Nicholas” instead of “Nick” for a while now.
### New Santa Cruz Warriors HC Nicholas Kerr Acknowledges the Privilege he has being Steve Kerr’s Son:
> **“I would never have gotten into the NBA without a family connection,” the recently promoted Santa Cruz Warriors head coach said** during an hour-long conversation over lunch last week. That family connection, after all, is his nine-time NBA champion father Steve, who has won four titles as the Golden State Warriors’ head coach.
> **“I don’t blame anyone for saying I have privilege, they’re right,” Kerr said as he leaned back in his chair at Gott’s Roadside. “… I had not even a crack in the door, I had the door wide open for me.”**
### Many in Warriors Org Wondered & Understood the Optics of Hiring Steve’s Son:
> **Others within the Warriors also wondered what people might think of a father-son duo taking the reins of an organization’s two teams**, especially since Golden State owner Joe Lacob’s two sons, Kirk and Kent, both hold prominent positions in the front office.
### Ex-Santa Cruz HC/Current Golden State Director of Player Development Seth Cooper Explains why he and Dave Fatoki believed Nicholas was the Right Choice:
> One of the two people who promoted Kerr from the SeaDubs’ top assistant to the team’s next head coach sees it differently.
>“If anything, it honestly might’ve worked against him,” Warriors director of player development Seth Cooper said. “You look at a guy who might’ve spent time on the Golden State staff in the video and player development world and then was an assistant coach, and last year, [the] top assistant with us in Santa Cruz, that person — with the natural progression — would become a head coach.”
>Cooper, who preceded Kerr in the Santa Cruz job before a summer promotion, worked with Dave Fatoki, who oversees the SeaDubs, in selecting the team’s next head coach. **They interviewed a dozen candidates for the job, but Cooper said Kerr’s familiarity with the Warriors’ system as well as his ability to foster relationships gave him an edge.**
>**“We wanted to make sure that everything kind of made sense,” Cooper said. “You can’t not take into account who he is, but we just kept coming back to he was the best candidate of everyone we talked to.”**
–
>**As Cooper’s lead assistant last year, Kerr was in charge of managing the rotation and substitutions as well as helping handle players on assignment in Santa Cruz** with two-way or NBA contracts. Kerr’s work in that role earned Cooper’s support for the promotion to head coach.
>“Ever since I first met him, you can always tell that he really cared about it, worked hard at it and wanted to get better and learn,” **Cooper said. “Definitely wasn’t taking any shortcuts to being a coach.”**
### Nicholas Kerr didn’t want to stay in G-League at first, but now wants/loves to stay:
> Kerr took a job as an assistant video coordinator on the Warriors staff, where he stayed for four years. After a mentally grueling COVID-disrupted season, Kerr was offered the opportunity to serve on Santa Cruz’s coaching staff for the G League bubble in 2021.
>“**Up to that point, I didn’t understand the value of the G League, I didn’t understand how much fun it would be**,” Kerr said.
>**Kerr liked being more involved in practice and working more closely with players. He also enjoyed taking on more responsibilities**: The Warriors’ G League coaching staff is made up of four people compared to the NBA-level group, which includes more than a dozen assistants.
>It didn’t take long before Kerr and his wife, Kendall, fell in love with the charming coastal town. “**I never planned on being a head coach,”** Kerr said. “I thought I’d do that for a couple years and come back to Golden State.” But now? “**I think I’m the only person that wants to stay in the G League**,” he said.
### (For Now) Nicholas Kerr’s Long-term Goal is not to become a NBA Head Coach. Prefers either Overseas Coaching or heading a NBA team’s Player Development
> Kerr isn’t sure whether that’s a path he wants to take just yet. **“I don’t know that I want to eventually be an NBA head coach,” Kerr said. “… I’ve seen what his job is like, I’m not dying to do that.”**
> Kerr instead said he may **prefer coaching overseas or heading up an NBA player development department one day.** This year, however, his goals are pretty simple and clear. “Just don’t screw it up,” he said with a smile.
by NokCha_
6 Comments
[deleted]
Honestly good on him for acknowledging his privilege, its a step most nepo-babies never get too. A shame that every single thread that mentions him has to devolve into yall making immature jokes about his name like its the funniest thing in the world that you get to come near to saying the n word.
Its been clear over several years he goes by and wants people to call him Nick. Him changing it up to Nicholas is most likely other people coming in and saying we cant have that.
“Familiarity with the system gave him an edge”? And where did the familiarity with that system come from, definitely not from his dad being the one who runs the damn system.
Acknowledging the nepotism is a solid first step, but dont second that by saying “but he just happened to have all this familiarity that everyone else didn’t”, like you lack the critical thinking skills to connect those two statements.
I respect that.
Sofia Coppola said the same thing. She was like “Yeah he’s my dad, he wants me to do well, he hooked me up, In really advantaged” then she did good work and nobody cared about the nepotism.
I see we finally decided to go by Nicholas huh?