Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Fires Back at Stephen Curry Critics

Kerr had this to say in reference to Curry’s reaction.

“For Draymond to get kicked out three minutes in, it was really unforgivable. I think Steph may have even been a little upset with himself for not calling Draymond out of there, but I think mostly it was just ‘come on man, we need this’. Steph is such a fighter, such a competitor, and I think all of that combined led to that reaction.”

Critics have hinted at a possible lack of leadership from the Warriors Hall of Fame point guard being culpable for Draymond’s continued antics, yet Kerr was quick to absolve Curry of any blame.

Yet Kerr also praised Green for his conduct towards the officials prior to recent events.

“I think he’s found a really good balance of being competitive, feisty, playing with an edge, but not going overboard. All of that starts with just staying off the refs.

The 2016 NBA Coach of the Year later expressed his frustration with himself for not having addressed the situation with Green during a game against the Miami Heat the night before.

“I thought in the Miami game, he was on the refs too much. And I should’ve intervened, I should’ve talked to him after the game, and just reminded him that this all starts with being able to stay off the refs. And I didn’t. I’m upset with myself for that.

Warriors Need Green

This is Green’s fourth ejection of the year, the most of any season of his 12-year NBA career. The 34 year-old is the second-most ejected player in NBA regular season history with 19, trailing only Rasheed Wallace.

Golden State now needs Green more than ever as they face a tight battle to even make the play-in.

Kerr and Warriors Facing Tough Finish

The Warriors occupy the 10th seed in the Western Conference with a record of 38-34. The 11th-seeded Houston Rockets are only a game behind them in the standings. Led by Jalen Green, they’ve come out of nowhere to win 10 games in a row.

With only 10 games left in the regular season, Green and the rest of the Warriors will have to be on top of their game to avoid missing the play-in.