Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr knows the rigors of the NBA season all too well, so he channeled Taylor Swift to add some levity during an uneven 2022-23 campaign.
As the Warriors stumbled to a 44-38 regular season record, Kerr, 60, subtly worked phrases from Swift’s song “All Too Well” into his press conferences — and nobody noticed.
Legendary sports journalist Wright Thompson revealed the coach’s secret in a profile published on ESPN.com on Thursday, May 14. The four-time NBA championship coach found ways to incorporate the lyrics into his answers after games, with Thompson, 49, using an example from March 2023 when the Warriors beat the Houston Rockets.
“I walked through the door of the locker room at halftime” were the first words Kerr uttered when he took the podium. The first line of “All Too Well” begins with “I walked through the door.”
The best part? The coach’s son, Matthew, edited the numerous clips together into one video in which it appears Steve is performing the entire song. (Thompson did not say whether Steve did the entire 10-minute version, released in 2021, or the original off Swift’s 2012 album Red.)
Matthew shared the video with the family’s group chat and, somehow, Swift, 36, saw it.
“She ended up seeing it through a mutual friend,” Steve said.
Taylor Swift ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
“Wait, is this real?” Swift supposedly asked. “Can I put it on social media?”
Steve, however, asked Swift’s team to keep the video private.
The profile comes after Steve decided to return to the Warriors for the 2026-27 season despite mulling retirement. He opened up to Thompson before last season started about how he will know when it’s time to hang it up.
Taylor Swift became a bonafide sports fan after she started dating NFL star Travis Kelce in summer 2023. “Football is awesome, it turns out,” Swift quipped to TIME in her December 2023 Person of the Year profile. “I’ve been missing out my whole life.” Rooting for Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, […]
“How am I gonna feel exactly a year from now?” Steve asked. “Maybe two years from now? Because the job itself is so addictive. … You wanna trust yourself but also be suspicious of your own motives. You don’t want to walk away too early but you don’t want to walk away too late. And you worry about what your life is gonna feel like.”
He revisited the topic in March, admitting that, “Coaching has unlocked the best version of myself.”
“I think I’m scared that I will lose that daily engagement and purpose that not only feeds my soul, but helps me deal with my literal chronic daily pain,” Steve added. “If I knew I could retire and go do the physical stuff that I love, it would be a lot easier. But I can’t do a lot of that stuff anymore. So I’m scared of being at home without the constant engagement and friendships that coaching brings me.”
