Steve Kerr: 2023 Isn't Warriors' 'Last Dance' Like Michael Jordan's Bulls in 1997-98

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr isn't looking at his team's potential playoff run in the same way he did during his final season with the Chicago Bulls as a player.

Speaking to The Athletic's Tim Kawakami, Kerr explained why this season is not the Warriors' version of The Last Dance:

"That was made clear in Chicago (back in 1997), that that was going to be it, Phil was done and everybody's contracts were up. That was going to be it. That's not the case here at all. I know that Joe (Lacob) would love to keep this thing going. He's been incredible in his financial commitment to keep this team strong and relevant for a decade. He's always committed to that. So I think there's a really good possibility that we keep things going here."

The 1997-98 Bulls were the main topic of The Last Dance documentary series that aired in 2020. Bulls general manager Jerry Krause kickstarted the disintegration of the dynasty by making it clear ahead of the season he wouldn't bring Phil Jackson back as head coach the following year.

"When he made that comment, 'Phil goes 82-0, he's not coming back,' I told him that was ridiculous, he had no business saying it," Bulls governor Jerry Reinsdorf said of Krause to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne in May 2020. "He realized it. But he couldn't walk it back."

After winning their sixth title in eight years, the Bulls lost Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

Reinsdorf told The Athletic's Darnell Mayberry "it would've been suicidal" to re-sign Pippen, Rodman, Kerr and other role players because the market was going to price them out of where the Bulls wanted to go.

Jordan retired for the second time in his career in January 1999. He did return to play two seasons with the Washington Wizards from 2001 to '03 before ending his playing career for good.

The Warriors could be in a position to lose a key member of their original core for the first time during this run of success that began nearly a decade ago. Draymond Green has a $27.6 million player option on his contract for next season.

Green himself has said "the writing is on the wall" about his future with Golden State, though he doesn't necessarily mean it has to happen as soon as this offseason.

General manager Bob Myers' future with the organization is unclear. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in December the 48-year-old is in the final season of his current contract and talks about an extension was on hiatus.

Per a Jan. 25 report from The Athletic's Anthony Slater, Marcus Thompson II and Sam Amick, many people around Myers are predicting he will leave the Warriors. They also noted Stephen Curry has the closest relationship to Myers among all Golden State executives.

Kerr is signed through next season and has given no indication he's thinking about stepping down.

The Warriors are also paying almost $350 million between payroll ($189.5 million) and the luxury tax ($170 million) this season. They've put all of those financial resources into a roster that is currently sixth in the Western Conference with a 40-37 record.

Barring some strange turn of fortune, there's no indication the Warriors are in danger of losing Curry (signed through 2025-26) or Klay Thompson (signed through 2023-24). Andrew Wiggins, who hasn't played since Feb. 13 for personal reasons, signed a contract extension in October that runs through 2025-26 and has a player option for 2026-27.

Jordan Poole's four-year, $128 million extension kicks in after this season. The financial resources have already been committed to keeping most of this group together, unlike the situation with the 1997-98 Bulls.

If the Warriors were to lose early in the playoffs or fall back to the play-in tournament and lose without even getting to the postseason, perhaps governor Joe Lacob would look to make changes.

But there's still a good roster in Golden State when everyone is healthy. Given how things in the Western Conference fluctuate on a night-to-night basis right now, the defending NBA champs still look like a fairly safe bet to make noise in the playoffs.