Kerr apologizes for viral rant reprimanding referees after Warriors loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Minutes after the Warriors’ late loss to the Rockets in Houston on Wednesday, coach Steve Kerr taunted game officials in a scathing tirade that reverberated across the basketball world.
Three days later, after gaining clarity afterward and having a private conversation with the powers that be within the NBA, Kerr apologized.
“Let me say, I’ll say it publicly, I’m ashamed of it,” Kerr said after the team’s 90-minute practice Saturday. “Every time I criticize an official afterwards, I feel terrible. I’m ashamed of it. Sometimes in these games emotion comes to the surface and you say things you regret.”
Kerr’s viral postgame rant Wednesday night stemmed from a play in the final seconds. As the Warriors held a 90-89 lead, forward Jonathan Kuminga and Rockets guard Jalen Green dived to the ground after a loose ball. Green got there a split second earlier and Kuminga made an overt physical attempt to pry the ball away. Crew chief Bill Kennedy called a loose ball 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 final buzzer.
Kerr berated Kennedy for making the call that ultimately decided the game.
“Are you going to call a loose ball foul in a jump ball situation? With guys diving on the ground? With the game on the line?” Kerr asked rhetorically during his post-match press conference. “This is a multi-billion dollar industry. People’s jobs are at stake.
“I give the Rockets all the credit. They fought back. They defended excellently all evening. But I sympathize with our boys. Our guys fought back, played their asses off, and deserved to win that game – or at least have a chance at one stop at the end to finish the game. And that was taken away from us by a call that I don’t think any grade school referee would have made, because that guy would have had the feeling and said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to decide a game on a loose ball 25 yards from the basket.” ”
Kerr said Saturday that he would keep the NBA’s response private, but he wanted to clear the air and express his regret, especially for discrediting Kennedy without naming him. Kennedy, 58, is a 27-year veteran who has played 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. Been in the league for a long time. I feel good when I walk into the arena and see Bill. I feel bad that I said what I said afterwards. He didn’t deserve that. That was my mistake.”
That marked the second time this season that Kerr unleashed significant ire on the officiating crew, as eight days earlier he berated a crew led by veteran Tyler Ford for failing to see Nuggets forward Christian Braun call a timeout while Denver had none left.
Calling a timeout when the allotment has been used up results in a technical foul, which in this case would have awarded Golden State a free throw.
“Everyone saw it,” Kerr said Dec. 3 in Denver, “except for the three guys we hire to do the games.”
Kerr better be careful. He is on the league’s radar and further cases could lead to an announced fine.
