Right now, there's real uncertainty around Steve Kerr 's future with the Golden State Warriors. He's the head coach of a dynasty, so the noise isn't going anywhere for now.
Amid that, Kerr recently sat down for a candid Q&A with "The New Yorker." The talk, as expected, wasn't just about his own future or what's happening around the Association. Instead, the conversation drifted to politics — more specifically, his biggest concern about the country.
For Kerr, it's simple. America, he feels, is slipping when it comes to the basic promise of upward mobility.
"We don't have what used to represent the American Dream, which was: you can do better than your parents. We're going backward on all that," remarked the 2016 NBA Coach of the Year.
Kerr, as usual, showed some depth in that Q&A. It began with a look back at the emotion he carried after the Uvalde school shooting in 2022.
As journalist Charles Bethea noted, everyone remembers how hard that moment — nineteen children and two teachers were killed, and the debate around gun laws surged again — hit Kerr. From there, the question shifted to what concerns the Warriors ' head coach most about the country now, beyond gun violence.
"There are millions of people out there, young people who are looking at the horizon and saying, 'I did everything I was told I needed to do, and I can't buy a house, and I can't chase my dream,'" Kerr responded.
In his view, that cuts against what the American Dream used to stand for — the idea that hard work would open doors. It's something he benefited from himself during his time at the University of Arizona from 1983 to 1988.
It may have been nearly four decades ago, but as he put it, back then, "if you went to school and got a degree, you could get a job and you could buy a house."
"Now that's out of reach for most people," added the nine-time NBA champion.
As for why that shift has happened, Kerr pointed to a few reasons.
Too many young people, he said, are forced to take on student loans just to get started with a real education. Paying them back doesn't line up with rising home prices in an economy he described as "slanted toward the very, very top one per cent."
Taken together, it paints a picture of a country drifting away from the American Dream toward a society split into two tiers. Kerr made that point plainly, saying, "We don't really have a middle class."
That kind of regression, in his view, sends the wrong signals. It also comes with consequences.
"Think about what that means for the stability of communities and cities and a whole country," remarked the former NBA sharpshooter.
Look at the numbers, and Kerr's point holds up.
Median home prices have climbed from about $76,000 roughly forty years ago to around $408,000 in 2024. Young workers, meanwhile, earn about 20 percent less than boomers did at the same age.
Student debt has reached $1.7 trillion . Homeownership among those under 35 has dropped from 43 percent to 34 percent . By 2030, some experts expect about 30 percent fewer first-time buyers as millennials delay starting families and, in some cases, move away from cities.
It's not a very encouraging picture. And even if some have criticized coach Kerr for speaking out on politics, what he's saying clearly isn't something that should just be brushed aside.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
