The Athletic’s Sam Amick: Why Steve Kerr Re-Signed with the Warriors

Steve Kerr re-signed with the Golden State Warriors. The Athletic's Sam Amick explained why on the show, and the answer started where most NBA decisions start. Money.

The simplest piece of the story is the difference between coaching and broadcasting.

"Roughly $20 is a whole lot more than the seven or eight that your network, I believe, was putting in front of him," Amick said. "So that's part of it."

The Steph Curry piece is the other half.

"I think because Steph Curry is a wonderful partner to enjoy this basketball game with, and Steve wasn't ready to walk away from that," Amick said.

The delay in the decision, Amick reported, came down to alignment.

"I don't know all the details of how those meetings went with Joe Lacob and Kirk Lacob and Mike Dunleavy over the course of the past three weeks, but Steve needed to hear confidence and regarding alignment of vision, you know, their spirit together and their relationships," Amick said.

The unspoken Bob Myers comp was the cautionary tale.

"When you see Bob Myers leave the GM post a couple years ago for reasons that were partly related to the interpersonal dynamics, you kind of understand that there was a chance that Steve was going to do the same thing," Amick said. "But obviously he felt good enough about where they're at as a group and felt the same way."

The deal is two more years.

Rich asked the obvious follow-up. Does the Warriors organization have spidey-sense that LeBron is coming?

Amick did not slam the door on it.

"They're going to be pulling out all the stops to do something," Amick said. "Desperation meter, it's Lakers and Warriors are in the same neighborhood right now."

The pressure on the front office, in Amick's framing, is Steph himself.

"They know that Steph, as mild-mannered as he is and as chill as he is, he's not happy not being in contention," Amick said. "He's not going to be okay just coasting down the back end of his career."

The shortlist is the same shortlist everyone has.

"Whether it's LeBron, whether it's Giannis, whether it's Kawhi, they're going to be making all of the phone calls," Amick said.

Rich closed the segment by helping Amick find his lost wallet. The contact info was Marianne Markey at The Athletic's front desk.