Celtics lead assistant coach Ron Adams has accepted an offer to join the Golden State Warriors in a similar role, he told the Globe Sunday.
Adams had two years left on his contract with the Celtics, whom he joined last summer to become the top assistant to rookie NBA coach Brad Stevens. Adams now joins Steve Kerr’s staff with the Warriors.
A highly respected assistant coach with more than two decades of NBA experience, Adams visited the Warriors last week after receiving permission from the Celtics.
Though Adams didn’t leave with a formal offer at the time, the Warriors offered him a position in recent days.
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And after deliberating what he ultimately described as a “difficult decision,” Adams said that he accepted a multiyear offer Sunday.
“I have nothing but great things to say about the Celtics organization, Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens,” Adams said.
The move will be something of a homecoming for Adams, a California native who attended Fresno Pacific University.
He will also join a playoff contender, no doubt an intriguing factor as Adams, who turns 67 this October, nears the end of his coaching career.
Stevens must now find a new lead assistant, and a possible candidate is current assistant Jay Larranaga.
Larranaga was interviewed for the Celtics’ head coaching position after Doc Rivers vacated that post to join the Los Angeles Clippers last summer.
Baxter Holmes can be reached at baxter.holmes@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BaxterHolmes.