For Warriors, an offseason of uncertainty begins after play-in loss to Suns
PHOENIX - With 1:06 remaining in Steve Kerr's 12th season coaching the ailing Golden State Warriors, he huddled on their sideline at Mortgage Matchup Center with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
"I don't know what's going to happen next," Kerr told the duo Friday as relayed on X via Amazon Prime. "But I love you guys to death. And thank you."
On to an offseason shrouded in uncertainty.
The Warriors clinched another game for Kerr with a throwback effort Wednesday night that powered a five-point victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Western Conference play-in tournament play. But their magic vanished on Friday against the Suns in Phoenix, where Kerr's coaching contract essentially expired with a 111-96 loss.
Curry, a 12-time All-Star guard, capped his 17th season with 17 points in 36 minutes in his sixth game back from the right knee soreness that cost him 27 consecutive games. Green, a four-time All-Star, finished his 14th season with five points, two rebounds, six assists, six fouls and two technical fouls - and thus an ejection - from the bench. Six-time All-Star wing Jimmy Butler's 15th season ended with him perched on Golden State's bench by way of the torn right ACL that started the team's free fall in the West.
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Missing the playoffs - for the fourth time in 12 seasons under Kerr amid a 37-45 record - has the Warriors pegged for the 11th pick in the NBA draft, with a 9.4% chance to wrangle a top-four pick next month in the lottery. The pick is one of four Golden State can ship away this offseason if it mines the market for trades ahead of the trio's final season under contract.
"There's just a sense of finality that is surreal," Kerr said of this season's end, noting the camaraderie forged within the organization the past several months. "The season ends and it's just like - bizarre. All of a sudden, your entire existence changes. You're not fighting together. You're not trying to climb to the top of the mountain. It's part of the beauty of sports. A season. One season is its own journey, and then all of a sudden it's over."
Suns 111, Warriors 96
FG
FT
Reb
GOLDEN STATE
Min
M-A
M-A
O-T
A
PF
PTS
D.Green
35:36
2-4
1-2
0-2
6
6
5
Santos
30:00
4-8
1-2
4-6
4
4
9
Porzingis
14:45
3-5
3-4
0-1
0
1
11
St.Curry
36:02
4-16
6-6
0-4
4
1
17
Podziemski
38:49
9-17
2-3
3-10
0
2
23
Melton
27:47
5-10
4-4
3-8
3
0
16
Horford
26:24
3-8
2-2
1-5
2
1
9
Payton II
26:14
2-4
0-0
1-3
3
4
4
Bassey
1:06
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Richard
1:06
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Spencer
1:06
1-2
0-0
0-0
0
0
2
Se.Curry
1:04
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Totals
240:00
33-74
19-23
12-39
22
19
96
Percentages: FG .446, FT .826.
3-Point Goals: 11-33, .333 (Podziemski 3-5, St.Curry 3-10, Porzingis 2-3, Melton 2-4, Horford 1-4, Payton II 0-1, Spencer 0-1, D.Green 0-2, Santos 0-3).
Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 0
Turnovers: 20 (D.Green 5, Podziemski 4, St.Curry 4, Porzingis 3, Santos 2, Horford, Melton).
Steals: 5 (St.Curry 2, D.Green, Podziemski, Santos).
Technical Fouls: Green, 1:06 fourth; Green, 1:04 fourth.
FG
FT
Reb
PHOENIX
Min
M-A
M-A
O-T
A
PF
PTS
Brooks
29:50
4-14
2-2
1-1
4
4
13
Goodwin
34:22
7-11
1-1
4-9
2
1
19
Ighodaro
26:22
4-6
2-2
2-6
1
2
10
Booker
42:13
5-12
10-10
0-6
8
4
20
J.Green
39:31
14-20
0-0
1-6
4
3
36
O'Neale
25:37
4-11
0-0
0-2
1
5
11
Gillespie
17:11
1-2
0-0
1-2
2
1
2
Highsmith
10:23
0-3
0-0
0-1
1
2
0
Dunn
6:35
0-1
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Maluach
4:44
0-1
0-0
0-2
0
1
0
Bouyea
1:04
0-0
0-0
0-1
0
0
0
Coffey
1:04
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Fleming
1:04
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Totals
240:00
39-81
15-15
9-36
23
23
111
Percentages: FG .481, FT 1.000.
3-Point Goals: 18-49, .367 (J.Green 8-14, Goodwin 4-7, Brooks 3-8, O'Neale 3-10, Dunn 0-1, Gillespie 0-1, Maluach 0-1, Highsmith 0-3, Booker 0-4).
Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: 3.
Blocked Shots: 4 (J.Green 3, Ighodaro).
Turnovers: 12 (Brooks 5, J.Green 2, Booker, Gillespie, Goodwin, Ighodaro, O'Neale).
Steals: 14 (Goodwin 6, Highsmith 2, J.Green 2, Booker, Dunn, Gillespie, Ighodaro).
Technical Fouls: Booker, 1:06 fourth.
Golden State
15
30
24
27
-
96
Phoenix
33
17
28
33
-
111
A:17,071 (18,422).
The Warriors planned to parlay the momentum they built last season after adding Butler - and finishing 23-8 en route to the Western Conference semifinals - into another playoff run, knowing the outcome hinged on health after adding 39-year-old big man Al Horford and oft-injured De'Anthony Melton. Curry (26.6 points and 4.7 assists per game, 39.3% 3-point shooting) was an All-Star again and Butler (20 points, 5.6 rebounds, 51.9% shooting) played at an All-Star level, but it can't be altogether surprising that their health didn't hold at 38 and 36, respectively.
His future uncertain, Kerr made clear he relished this season coaching Golden State despite concluding earlier than Curry and Green are accustomed to concluding. An uneven start preceded wins in 12 of 16 games with Butler, whose season ended Jan. 19 amid a misstep against the Miami Heat.
Curry's pesky right knee soreness emerged the ensuing weekend in Minneapolis, thrusting the youthful Warriors - including Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Gui Santos, all 23 - into prominent roles alongside veteran backups. Moody tore his left patellar tendon two months later, adding injury to injury, but Podziemski and Santos developed and thrived, serving as this season's silver linings.
"We've been hit with more injuries this season than anything I've ever seen," Green said. "It's not quite the ending you want, but it happens. We whooped on a lot of people for a long time. When you get whooped on, you can't put your head down. You've got to take the punches and move forward."
As the Warriors got "whooped on" over and over - sometimes losing to tanking teams - Curry committed to returning to their lineup, shaking off a setback and fighting through soreness while planning to play in the play-in tournament. His return to the lineup on April 5 filled Chase Center with contagious joy. His virtuoso showing (35 points, seven 3-pointers and the tie-breaking 3-pointer) in a five-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers during play-in play Wednesday at Intuit Dome served as the spoils for a season of struggles.
Same for Green.
Same for Kerr.
"That game the other night will go down as one of my favorite games we've played," Kerr said. "I don't care what anybody says. Play-in game. Whatever. Does not matter. It's just showing what (Curry) was made of. Draymond showing what he was made of. That matters. It just matters."
Matter as it may, the Warriors couldn't summon their vintage greatness against the Suns, committing 21 turnovers that led to 30 points. Curry missed 12 of 16 shots as Phoenix's Jalen Green scored 36 points, helping the Suns earn a best-of-seven series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Podziemski led Golden State with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Kerr's uncertain future notwithstanding, Curry said he's interested in a contract extension with Golden State but noted those talks haven't yet begun and that "it's going to be a busy summer for the Warriors."
Green showed Wednesday he can still meet the moment, guarding Clippers star Kawhi Leonard and anchoring a sublime fourth-quarter defensive effort. Despite a dip in play this season, he said he isn't retiring, with a player option for 2026-27. As for his future with Golden State, "I think I'm still pretty decent. But this league we're in is an interesting one, and it's one that you don't really control everything."
Added Green: "I hope I've done enough to still be here, cause at the end of the day, if I ain't done enough, I don't want to be here. … Hopefully, I've done enough to still be here, but if not, we'll see what it looks like."
Melton and Horford can become free agents by declining player options, with big man Kristaps Porzingis (acquired in February for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield) and wing Gary Payton II set for unrestricted free agency. Unless the Warriors have designs of being brittle and unathletic, compared to the rest of the NBA again, changes are in order - hence Green's postgame pondering.
Curry, Butler and Green (should he exercise his player option) account for 81% of their salary commitments for 2026-27.
No matter who's coaching.
"You've ended your season a lot of different ways, and you've had those moments on the sideline where you go up and down and thank everybody for what they poured into the year," Curry said. "But for it to start with that conversation (with Kerr) and that moment, it was definitely weird because we spent the last - all season, but really these last two weeks trying to hone in on just the moment right now that we had to extend our season. And then all of a sudden you look up and time's run out.
"I do appreciate the fact that (Kerr) took that moment because regardless, like, we're human beings and we have to be able to acknowledge each other in that moment. But I don't know if that's a signal of anything. It's just - we wanted to appreciate what we've all poured into this journey."
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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 2:17 AM.