Kerr apologizes for viral rant he chastised referees after Warriors loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Minutes after the The Warriors’ last loss to the Rockets In Houston on Wednesday, coach Steve Kerr blistered the game officials. with a scathing tirade heard throughout the basketball world.
Three days later, gaining clarity in hindsight and having a private conversation with the NBA’s powers that be, Kerr apologizes.
“Let me say, I’ll say this publicly, I’m embarrassed,” Kerr said after the team’s 90-minute practice Saturday. “Every time I criticize an official after the fact, I feel terrible. I’m ashamed. Sometimes, with these games, emotion gets to you and you say things you regret.”
Kerr’s viral rant after Wednesday night’s game stemmed from a play in the final seconds. With the Warriors clinging to a 90-89 lead, Rockets forward Jonathan Kuminga and Rockets guard Jalen Green went to the ground after a fumble. Green arrived a split second early and Kuminga made an overtly physical attempt to take the ball away from him. Team manager Bill Kennedy called a fumble foul on Kuminga, giving Green two free throws with 3.5 seconds left.
Green made both, giving Houston a 91-90 lead that held until the end.
Kerr criticized Kennedy for making the call. That, in the end, decided the match.
“Are you going to call a fumble foul in a jump situation? With kids throwing themselves on the ground? With the game on the line? Kerr asked, rhetorically, during his postgame press conference. “This is a billion-dollar industry. You have people’s jobs on the line.
“I give credit to the Rockets. They fought back. They played great defense all night. But I feel sorry for our guys. Our guys fought back, played hard, and deserved to win that game, or at least have a chance to make a stop at the end to end the game. And that was taken away from us by a call that I don’t think a grade school referee would have made, because that guy would have felt and said, ‘You know what? “I’m not going to decide a game with a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.” “
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Kerr said Saturday that he would keep the NBA’s response private, but wanted to set the record straight and express his remorse, particularly for disparaging Kennedy without mentioning him by name. Kennedy, 58, is a 27-year veteran of nearly 1,500 regular-season games, as well as 151 NBA playoff games.
“I wouldn’t change anything about complaining about the call,” Kerr said. “But Bill Kennedy is a great referee. I’ve been in the league for a long time. I feel good when I walk into the arena and see Bill. I feel terrible for saying what I said afterwards. He didn’t deserve that. “That was my mistake.”
That was the second time this season that Kerr unleashed considerable fury on the officiating crew, as eight days earlier he criticized a team led by veteran official Tyler Ford for not seeing Nuggets forward Christian Braun call a timeout. died when Denver had none left.
Calling a timeout when the time allowed runs out results in a technical foul, which in this case would have given Golden State a free throw.
“Everyone saw it,” Kerr said Dec. 3 in Denver, “except the three guys we hired to do the games.”
Kerr better watch out. He is on the league’s radar and further cases could lead to an announced fine.
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