Last Updated on October 6, 2026 by Orlando Bloom
Steve Kerr comes from an extraordinary family whose story extends far beyond basketball. Born Stephen Douglas Kerr on September 27, 1965, in Beirut, Lebanon, the Golden State Warriors head coach is the son of academics Malcolm H. Kerr and Ann Zwicker Kerr. He grew up alongside three siblings — Susan Kerr van de Ven, John Malcolm Kerr and Andrew Stanley Kerr — while the family lived in several countries across the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
Kerr later created a family of his own with his longtime wife, Margot Kerr. The couple met while studying at the University of Arizona and have three children: Nicholas “Nick” Kerr, Madeleine “Maddy” Kerr Hyde and Matthew Kerr. Basketball has continued into the next generation through Nick, who followed his father into coaching and now works alongside him with the Golden State Warriors.
Who Is Steve Kerr’s Wife?
Margot Kerr is Steve Kerr’s wife and has been beside him throughout virtually his entire professional basketball career.
Steve and Margot met while they were sophomores at the University of Arizona. Their introduction was arranged by Steve’s teammate and close friend Bruce Fraser, who later became one of Kerr’s longtime assistant coaches with the Golden State Warriors.
Fraser arranged a blind date because he believed Steve and Margot would get along. The meeting turned into a long-term relationship.
Margot graduated before Steve because Kerr had taken a redshirt year during his college basketball career. She later worked for an advertising agency in Los Angeles while Steve completed his time at Arizona and began pursuing professional basketball.
The couple initially spent time in a long-distance relationship after Steve entered the NBA. Margot eventually moved to join him, and they married while Kerr was beginning his professional career.
Their marriage subsequently followed the constant movement of an NBA player’s life. They lived in several cities as Steve played for teams including Cleveland, Orlando, Chicago and San Antonio.
As of now, Steve and Margot Kerr remain married, and she continues to be one of the most important people involved in his major career decisions.
Margot Kerr Helped Steve Decide to Keep Coaching
Margot’s influence remained particularly visible in 2026 when Steve seriously considered whether he should continue coaching the Golden State Warriors.
After Golden State’s 2025-26 season ended, Kerr acknowledged that he was uncertain about returning. He discussed the decision extensively with Margot and the rest of his family.
Margot encouraged him to consider what he would be giving up if he walked away from an organization and group of people that had become such a large part of his life.
Kerr eventually decided to remain with Golden State and signed a new two-year contract in May 2026.
The decision illustrated the role Margot has played throughout their marriage: she has generally remained outside the basketball spotlight while serving as one of Steve’s most trusted advisers.
How Many Children Does Steve Kerr Have?
Steve Kerr and Margot Kerr have three children: two sons, Nicholas and Matthew, and one daughter, Madeleine.
All three grew up around professional basketball because of their father’s playing, broadcasting and coaching careers, but they ultimately followed very different professional paths.
Nick remained deeply involved in basketball and became a coach. Maddy was a college volleyball player before becoming a lawyer, while Matthew pursued writing and entertainment.
Nicholas “Nick” Kerr
Nicholas Kerr is Steve and Margot’s oldest child. He was born in 1992 while Steve was playing in the NBA.
Nick was exposed to professional basketball almost immediately. When he was only a few weeks old, Steve was traded, beginning a childhood in which the family moved several times because of his father’s career.
Like Steve, Nick eventually became a basketball player. He attended the University of San Diego, where he played for the Toreros, before completing graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He also spent a season as a walk-on with Cal basketball.
Rather than attempting to reach the NBA as a player, Nick transitioned into coaching and player development.
Nick Kerr’s Coaching Career
Nick worked with the San Antonio Spurs before joining the Golden State Warriors organization in basketball-development and video roles.
In 2023, he was named head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s NBA G League affiliate.
Nick coached Santa Cruz for two seasons before receiving another promotion in 2025. He returned to the Golden State Warriors’ NBA staff as an assistant coach.
That move created an unusual father-son situation: Steve Kerr is Golden State’s head coach while Nick is now a member of his coaching staff.
Nick married Kendall Kerr in 2021. While his father remains one of the most recognizable coaches in basketball, Nick has generally maintained a much lower public profile away from the sport.
Madeleine “Maddy” Kerr Hyde
Madeleine Kerr, commonly known as Maddy, is Steve and Margot’s daughter. She was born in 1995 during Steve’s years with the Chicago Bulls.
Maddy inherited the family’s athletic ability but chose volleyball rather than basketball.
She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she played for the Golden Bears women’s volleyball team and became a team captain.
Maddy described the Kerrs as a particularly close family. Her decision to attend Berkeley ultimately became an interesting part of the family’s move toward Northern California because Steve accepted the Warriors coaching position the following year.
Maddy Kerr Became a Lawyer
After completing her undergraduate studies, Maddy continued her education and earned a law degree from UC Berkeley.
She subsequently began working as a lawyer in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Her career placed her much closer to the academic tradition of Steve’s parents and siblings than to her father’s basketball profession.
Maddy married Francis Hyde in 2022 and is now also known as Madeleine Kerr Hyde.
Matthew Kerr
Matthew Kerr is Steve and Margot’s youngest child. He was born in 1998.
Unlike Nick and Maddy, Matthew was never particularly focused on competitive sports.
Instead, he developed an interest in writing and entertainment. Steve and Margot described him as the child most drawn toward creative work.
Matthew attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he studied screenwriting.
He later worked professionally in television writing, with credits connected to productions including Ted Lasso and Clone High.
Matthew’s career is another example of Steve and Margot allowing each of their children to establish an identity independent of their father’s enormous basketball reputation.
Who Are Steve Kerr’s Parents?
Steve Kerr’s parents were Malcolm H. Kerr and Ann Zwicker Kerr.
Unlike the families of many prominent NBA figures, the Kerr household had virtually no professional basketball background. Steve grew up instead in an academic family with unusually strong connections to the Middle East.
Both Malcolm and Ann spent substantial portions of their lives studying, teaching and working internationally.
Steve Kerr’s Father: Malcolm H. Kerr
Malcolm Hooper Kerr was Steve Kerr’s father and a distinguished political scientist and Middle East scholar.
Malcolm was born on October 8, 1931, in Beirut, Lebanon. His own parents were Americans who had moved to the region and later became associated with the American University of Beirut.
He attended Princeton University before returning to Beirut for graduate studies at the American University of Beirut. Malcolm later completed a doctorate in international relations at Johns Hopkins University.
His academic career eventually took him to UCLA, where he spent approximately two decades teaching political science and serving in senior academic roles.
Malcolm became internationally respected for his expertise on politics and society in the Middle East.
Malcolm Kerr Became President of the American University of Beirut
In 1982, Malcolm accepted one of the most significant positions of his academic career when he became president of the American University of Beirut.
The appointment brought him back to the city where he had been born and where much of the Kerr family’s history had begun.
However, Lebanon was experiencing severe political violence and civil war at the time.
On January 18, 1984, Malcolm Kerr was assassinated near his office on the AUB campus. He was 52 years old.
Steve was an 18-year-old freshman basketball player at the University of Arizona when his father was killed.
The loss profoundly affected the entire Kerr family. Steve has explained that he dealt with the grief partly by maintaining a daily routine and continuing with basketball.
How Malcolm Kerr Influenced Steve
Although Malcolm died before Steve’s professional basketball career began, his influence remained enormous.
Steve has frequently credited both parents with teaching their children to understand different cultures, listen to people with different backgrounds and value education.
Malcolm was also an enthusiastic supporter of his son’s basketball career. Despite his academic profession, he closely followed Steve’s development and regarded watching him play as one of his great joys.
The tragedy also contributed to Steve’s awareness of issues extending far beyond basketball, although Kerr has emphasized that his broader worldview came from the way both parents raised him rather than from one event alone.
Steve Kerr’s Mother: Ann Zwicker Kerr
Ann Zwicker Kerr is Steve Kerr’s mother and an academic and educator with longstanding connections to the Middle East.
Ann first traveled to Beirut while attending Occidental College. During her junior year abroad at the American University of Beirut, she met Malcolm.
The couple married in 1957 and eventually had four children: Susan, John, Steve and Andrew.
Ann and Malcolm built a family life that frequently involved international travel. Their children spent parts of their childhood in places including Beirut, Cairo, France, England, Tunisia and California.
After Malcolm’s death, Ann continued the international educational work that had been important to both of them.
Ann Kerr’s Academic and Humanitarian Work
Ann developed a long association with UCLA, including work connected to its International Institute and Fulbright programs.
She also became an author and wrote about the Kerr family’s experiences in Lebanon and the Middle East.
Ann and her four children later established the Kerr Family Centennial Scholars Endowment at UCLA to support students from the Middle East pursuing higher education.
She has jokingly summarized the very different careers of her four children by saying she raised “two Ph.D.s, an M.B.A. and an NBA.”
Steve is naturally the “NBA” member of that description.
Steve Kerr’s Siblings
Steve Kerr has three siblings: an older sister, Susan Kerr van de Ven, an older brother, John Malcolm Kerr, and a younger brother, Andrew Stanley Kerr.
Steve is the third of Malcolm and Ann Kerr’s four children.
While Steve became famous through basketball, his siblings largely followed the academic and international path established by their parents.
Susan Kerr van de Ven
Susan Kerr van de Ven is Steve Kerr’s older sister and the eldest of the Kerr siblings.
Susan pursued an extensive academic education, including advanced study connected to the Middle East and education.
She became an author and wrote One Family’s Response to Terrorism: A Daughter’s Memoir, which explored the impact their father’s assassination had on the family.
Susan later lived in the United Kingdom and became involved in local politics, serving as an elected councillor.
She has remained closely connected to the wider Kerr family’s emphasis on education and international understanding.
John Malcolm Kerr
John Malcolm Kerr is Steve Kerr’s older brother.
John built a career in academia and international development rather than professional sports.
He became an agricultural economist and taught at Michigan State University while also working on international-development issues.
His career reflects the academic tradition established by Malcolm and Ann.
John was living and working overseas when his father was killed in 1984, making Malcolm’s death a tragedy experienced by family members spread across different parts of the world.
Andrew Stanley Kerr
Andrew Stanley Kerr is Steve Kerr’s younger brother and the youngest of Malcolm and Ann’s four children.
Andrew was only a teenager when Malcolm was killed.
Unlike Steve, John and Susan, Andrew was actually in Beirut at the time of their father’s assassination. Contemporary reporting says he learned about the shooting while attending school nearby.
Andrew later pursued studies and professional work connected to international affairs before building a business career in Washington, D.C.
Like his siblings, he remained involved in the Kerr family’s educational and charitable initiatives.
The Kerr Family’s Connection to Beirut
Beirut occupies an unusually important place in the Kerr family story.
Malcolm was born there. Ann met Malcolm there. Steve was also born there, and several of Malcolm and Ann’s children spent portions of their childhood in Lebanon.
Even after Malcolm’s murder, Ann refused to allow the tragedy to destroy the family’s connection to the region.
She continued visiting the Middle East and supporting educational exchange programs.
In 2017, Ann, Susan, John, Steve and Andrew jointly created a UCLA scholarship endowment designed to promote international understanding and provide educational opportunities for students from the Middle East.
The initiative continued Malcolm Kerr’s belief that education could connect people from different countries and cultures.
How Steve Kerr’s Childhood Shaped His Coaching
Steve Kerr’s upbringing differed considerably from that of most NBA players and coaches.
Moving between countries exposed him to different cultures and viewpoints from childhood. His parents were academics who encouraged discussion, curiosity and understanding rather than focusing exclusively on sports.
Kerr has repeatedly connected those experiences to the way he approaches coaching.
His coaching philosophy emphasizes communication, collaboration and allowing players to understand why decisions are made rather than simply demanding obedience.
He has described coaching itself as a form of teaching — an idea that makes him less different from the educators in his family than he once believed.
Basketball Continues Through Steve Kerr’s Son Nick
For many years, Steve joked that he was the unusual member of an otherwise academic family.
The next generation complicated that description.
Nick became a basketball coach, meaning Steve now has a son working in the same profession.
After Nick coached the Santa Cruz Warriors from 2023 to 2025, Golden State promoted him back to the NBA staff.
As of the 2026-27 season, the Warriors officially list Nicholas Kerr as an assistant coach on Steve Kerr’s staff.
That makes basketball a direct professional connection between father and son, even though Steve has emphasized throughout Nick’s career that his son must build his own reputation within the sport.
Frequently Asked Questions About Steve Kerr’s Family
Who is Steve Kerr’s wife?
Steve Kerr’s wife is Margot Kerr. They met while studying at the University of Arizona after Steve’s teammate Bruce Fraser arranged a blind date.
Is Steve Kerr still married?
Yes. As of now, Steve and Margot Kerr remain married. Margot was also closely involved in Steve’s decision to continue coaching Golden State in 2026.
How many children does Steve Kerr have?
Steve Kerr has three children with Margot: Nicholas, Madeleine and Matthew Kerr.
Who is Steve Kerr’s son Nick Kerr?
Nicholas Kerr is Steve’s eldest child. He played college basketball before becoming a coach and is currently an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.
Who is Steve Kerr’s daughter?
Madeleine “Maddy” Kerr Hyde is Steve’s daughter. She played volleyball at UC Berkeley, later earned a law degree from Berkeley and became a lawyer.
Who is Steve Kerr’s youngest son?
Matthew Kerr is Steve and Margot’s youngest child. He studied screenwriting at USC and pursued a career in television writing.
Who are Steve Kerr’s parents?
Steve Kerr’s parents are Malcolm H. Kerr and Ann Zwicker Kerr. Both were academics with deep connections to the Middle East.
Who was Steve Kerr’s father?
Steve Kerr’s father was Malcolm H. Kerr, a political scientist and Middle East scholar who became president of the American University of Beirut.
What happened to Steve Kerr’s father?
Malcolm Kerr was assassinated at the American University of Beirut on January 18, 1984. Steve was a freshman basketball player at Arizona at the time.
Who is Steve Kerr’s mother?
Steve Kerr’s mother is Ann Zwicker Kerr, an educator, author and longtime supporter of international educational exchange.
How many siblings does Steve Kerr have?
Steve Kerr has three siblings: Susan Kerr van de Ven, John Malcolm Kerr and Andrew Stanley Kerr.
Who is Steve Kerr’s sister?
Susan Kerr van de Ven is Steve’s older sister. She is an author and has been involved in local politics in the United Kingdom.
Who are Steve Kerr’s brothers?
Steve Kerr’s brothers are John Malcolm Kerr and Andrew Stanley Kerr. John became an agricultural economist and academic, while Andrew pursued a business career after studying international affairs.
Was Steve Kerr born in the United States?
No. Steve Kerr was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 27, 1965, to American parents.
Does Steve Kerr’s son coach for the Warriors?
Yes. As of now, Nicholas Kerr is an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors and works on the staff led by his father.
Is Steve Kerr still coaching the Golden State Warriors?
Yes. Kerr signed a new two-year contract with Golden State in May 2026 and remains the Warriors’ head coach.
Orlando Bloom is a sports journalist and analyst specializing in in-depth NBA coverage, tactical breakdowns, and advanced player analytics. With a passion for professional basketball, he covers everything from trade deadline maneuvers and Draft prospects to team strategies and league-wide trends. Combining detailed stat analysis with game context, Orlando delivers sharp insights and compelling stories for avid basketball fans and casual followers alike.
