Rest easy, Warriors’ fans.

Even though Steve Kerr views the current political landscape with dismay and anxiety, the Warriors’ coach will not be stepping aside to run for office in November. And Gregg Popovich will have to find a different presidential running mate in 2020.

Kerr made it clear in a recent phone conversation that his focus is on leading the Warriors back to the NBA Finals for a fifth straight season. Monday he returns to work (he never really leaves it) at the annual three-day retreat he conducts with his coaching staff.

The highlights of the conversation follow.

Q: You speak out on politics, but do you ever get frustrated that you can’t do more? These are extraordinary times.

A: I am sensitive to the position I am in. I would say most of what I do on Twitter is retweeting interesting articles that I have read. I don’t tweet a lot (of my own thoughts). Every once in a while I can’t resist. But I’m definitely more reserved than I would be, just out of respect to the position I’m in and the people I represent. I’m not an independent contractor, I work for a big organization and I’ve got a lot of colleagues, so I try to keep everything respectful and professional and try not to go overboard with stuff.

But it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating watching what’s happening. And I think, like a lot of people, I’m just sort of wondering what’s going on.

Q: When it was reported that the NRA might disband due to financial problems, you tweeted, “Don’t send money. ... Thoughts and prayers should suffice.” Was that your line?

A: Yeah, that was my line. I couldn’t resist.

Q: Oprah (Winfrey) and LeBron (James) have been discussed as presidential candidates. Down the line, would you give thought to getting into the political world?

A: I can’t imagine that, honestly. I love what I do and I’m qualified to do what I do, whereas I would be unqualified to run for public office. I don’t have any experience with that kind of stuff. It doesn’t sound like that much fun, to be honest.

Q: Are you worried that permanent damage is being done to the country?

A: You realize that there have been other moments in history where there’s been a lot of damage done, and we’ve recovered, so you maintain hope in our institutions, you hope that the checks and balances will take hold and will keep things going.

I recently watched that movie “The Post,” which was really interesting. I was probably five years old when that story (Watergate) was going on. But I think it is interesting to read about Vietnam and what was going on then, the corruption in our government, the reaction to it.

But the difference back then was that Congress acted like it was supposed to. There wasn’t any sort of party lines drawn, it was just, “All right, we gotta get our stuff straight.”

What’s worrisome right now is that it feels like the checks are eroding a little bit, and so everyone needs to stay vigilant, everyone needs to vote. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’m hoping will come from all the chaos and mayhem that Trump has sown, is just people need to get out and vote.

Q: You talk a lot about the power of the vote.

A: That’s the whole deal. That’s the way the government was set up by our founding fathers, right? Because they knew that human beings are by nature self-serving, and (people in government) are going to take any advantage they can, it’s just our nature. So you have to have institutions in place to protect us from ourselves. It’s like the salary cap. (Pause) That’s a horrible analogy.

Q: The midterm elections come at the start of the season. Will that be distracting to you?

A: It will be good for everybody. ... I think what’s demoralizing for me is that in the past it was always pretty simple. I never worried too much about the character of the people involved in a presidential election. ... You never really had to just stop and say, “We have to vote for a rational human being,” because both sides were rational, they just had different viewpoints on how the world worked.

And that’s changed. We have an irrational human being in the White House, so it requires a major response.

Q: You seem like a purist, in basketball certainly. Like, you consider flopping dishonest. Are you appalled at the level of dishonesty in politics, where people now actually tally the lies?

A: I think the New York Times does that (keeps a running tally of Trump’s untruths). It’s like an average of 6½ per day, something like that. You almost read it like it’s a sports story. “Trump led all liars with an average of 6.5 per day in 2019, his best season yet.”

Q: OK, on to basketball. Your players will be thinking, “Coach had four months to come up with good stuff, what’s he got for us?”

A: We have our coaching retreat and that’s going to be the major topic of discussion. My gut is to change some things up, to change our routine a little bit. We’ve basically been doing the same thing for four years.

We’re not going to change our style of play. We’ll definitely add a few plays for DeMarcus (Cousins) down on the block. But for the most part, we’re not going to change who we are.

I do think in order to keep their interest, and to keep them fresh, we’ve got to change some aspects of our routine, and we’ll see what that means. Could mean altering or even getting rid of shootarounds, (or) only having shootarounds occasionally. Could mean changing the structure of practice, changing the amount of time we’re on the floor, maybe mixing up some different drills.

I’ll ask you if you know the answer. Do you know the last time a team went to the Finals five years in a row? I don’t know the exact answer, you can look it up. (Answer: The Celtics went 10 years in a row, ’57 to ’66; the Lakers, ’82 to ’85, and Celtics, ’84 to ’87, each went four times in a row.)

None of the modern-era iconic teams have done it. Not the Bulls, Spurs, Lakers, Celtics of the ’80s. There’s a reason. It’s a difficult challenge. Summers get shorter and shorter, teams are getting better and better. The motivation to get the first championship is palpable every single day during the season, and after you win a few it’s harder to generate that same type of energy and enthusiasm.

And that’s where the coaching creativity comes into play, and that’s when your internal (player) leadership comes into play.

Q: I believe that many Warriors fans are worrying about the season after this one. Worry-wise, they’re skipping over this coming season, since you’ve added Cousins for a year.

A: I think Bob Myers said it perfectly. Every year is its own entity, and much more so today than 10, 15 years ago, when you had more continuity and less player movement at the top.

I think LeBron kind of changed the chess board for superstar players, with his move to Miami and now to L.A., and I think more and more superstar players are really dictating the terms of their careers, as they should. They’ve earned that right.

Because there’s so much more turnover at the top, there’s less stability. You really do have to take it year by year. And enjoy it. Our fans should just enjoy each year for what it is. We’re in the midst of this great run, and who knows how long it will last?

Q: So you want Warriors fans to be like A’s fans: Just forget the instability of the team’s situation and enjoy the moment?

A: How about the A’s, isn’t that great? So exciting. ... There has to be a new ballpark, and it’s got to be in Oakland. They can take over that town, now that we’re leaving and the Raiders are leaving. It’s gotta happen.

Q: By the way, adding Cousins to your team, that’s unfair.

A: No, it’s perfectly fair.

(One more thing: If you were wondering, Kerr declined to discuss his health in this interview.)

Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler