Kerr: Billionaires, corporations made NBA coaches 'more expendable'

Steve Kerr believes billionaire owners are a big reason behind the recent string of NBA coach firings.

When asked Tuesday about the Denver Nuggets' decision to fire head coach Mike Malone, Kerr theorized that the wealth of owners has made coaches "more expendable" in today's NBA.

"I think one thing that's happened is most teams are now owned by billionaires, big corporations," the Golden State Warriors head coach said, according to Danny Emerman of The San Francisco Standard. "So, we're all more expendable. There's so much money in the business now. There's pluses and minuses to that.

"We're all making bigger salaries than we were five years ago, but we're much more vulnerable because I think a lot of owners aren't that concerned with firing a guy and paying him off to go away. So, again, this is the business we chose. We all love it. But it's not the most stable profession, that's for sure."

Kerr, who's in his 11th season with the Warriors, ranks as the third longest-tenured coach in the NBA behind the San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich (29 seasons) and Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra (17 seasons). Malone was in the midst of his 10th season with the Nuggets when he was let go Tuesday.