Steve Kerr Tries To Brush Off Comment About Draymond Green
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The post-season can't get here soon enough for the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors.
Just days after a 122-105 dismantling of the Western Conference second place Denver Nuggets, the Warriors played lackluster and at times disinterested in a 115-111 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.
After the game, Golden State star Klay Thompson chided Warriors fans for being less than enthusiastic in showing their support to rally the team. Meanwhile, head coach Steve Kerr was caught on camera mouthing a comment to assistant coach Mike Brown that had lip-readers buzzing about on social media.
On Monday, Kerr addressed both while answering questions from reporters.
The first came during a time out in the fourth quarter. Kerr appeared to be venting his frustration with his star forward.
When asked about the comment on Monday, Kerr said "no comment" to a query about talking with Green after the game and then tried to defuse any smoldering issues among the team by joking about it.
"The lip readers were wrong," the Warriors coach said with a wry smile. "What I said was 'I beg to differ with Draymond's approach tonight.' Those were my exact words. I don't know how somebody misconstrued that."
Kerr said the social media uproar was an indicator of life in 2019.
"It's 2019," he said. "George Orwell was right. He just had the year wrong. He wrote 1984. I think the title should have been like 2012 or so. It's modern life. Everything is recorded. Everything is filmed. I've decided I'm now going to get a giant laminated board with all my play calls and I'm going to turn into a NFL coach from here on end."
But Kerr admits the team is frustrated with its inconsistency on the court.
"We are frustrated, frustrated with our play, with ourselves, with our approach," he said of the collective mood of the team. "We all feel it."
"The Denver game was a better of indicator of what we are capable of," he continued. "Then to so quickly get off track one game later, that's very frustrating. It's something we got to correct. We've got to build some momentum."
As to Thompson's comments about the fans lackluster support, Kerr said the fans have "no obligation" to cheer.
"It's on the team to make it interesting and compelling," he said. "I think we've done a good job with that here...Let's put a better effort out there on the floor and give our fans something to cheer for."
