Just like DVD-thief-turned-international-crime-fighter Dominic Toretto, the Golden State Warriors are all about family. Owner Joe Lacob’s son Kirk is the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations.
His brother Kent Lacob was vice president of basketball development until last summer. Now, head coach Steve Kerr’s son has been promoted to assistant coach.
The younger Kerr was head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors, the team’s G League affiliate, for the last two seasons. Before that, he spent two seasons an assistant coach for the Sea Dubs, following three years with the Warriors working as a video coordinator and in player development. He started his NBA coaching career as an film assistant with the San Antonio Spurs during the 2017-18 season, hired by his father’s mentor, Gregg Popovich.
The Spurs would play the Warriors in the first round of that year’s playoffs, where Coach Pop jokingly held a vote to ban Nick Kerr from team meetings, only to overrule it. Eventually, the two head coaches had to officially announce to the media they would stop teasing the Spurs intern.
Did Kerr get his job by nepotism? Of course! The younger Kerr admitted it to SFGate in 2023.
“I would never have gotten into the NBA without a family connection…I don’t blame anyone for saying I have privilege… I had not even a crack in the door, I had the door wide open for me.”
At the same time, Kerr has put in the work. He worked unglamorous jobs for the Spurs and Warriors for years, working on game film and development drills for players. Kerr the Younger played four years of college basketball at San Diego, then did a walk-on year at Cal, followed by a season as a graduate assistant.
Kerr moved on to the Santa Cruz Warriors for the 2021-22 season, then got a promotion to head coach in 2023. He went 20-14 in each of the last two seasons and made the playoffs each time, while overseeing the development of current Warriors Quinten Post, Gui Santos, as well former Warriors Pat Spencer Lester Quinones, who won Most Improved Player in 2023.
Steve Kerr has said in the past that he’s not good at developing young players (“No shit” – Warriors Twitter), so he likes having younger assistants able to handle that aspect, especially with shorter training camps and the limited opportunities for practicing during the regular season. It’s not clear how Nick Kerr feels about Jonathan Kuminga’s fit on the team, or about a third-year team option on his contract, but we thankfully only have two more days to speculate about this.
As far as nepo babies in the NBA are concerned, the Warriors like that in their coaches, executives, and players. General manager Mike Dunleavy, Jr. is a coach’s kid. Steph Curry’s father had a long NBA career, and his brother Seth (future Warrior) is married to an NBA coach’s daughter whose son played in the NBA. Former Warriors Klay Thompson’s dad was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, and the newest Warrior, Al Horford, is also the son of an NBA player. TJD’s father played in the NBA as well, though he was brought up by his stepdad.
In the NBA, Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman is the son of a longtime NBA coach, as was his predecessor, Michael Malone. The Minnesota Timberwolves employed Flip Saunders and his son Ryan as head coaches, while Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is the son of a longtime NBA executive. Sometimes the nepo babies grow up to be talented nepo adults!
So congratulations to the Warriors newest assistant coach. We can’t believe he hasn’t started going by “Nicholas” yet.
