The 2018-19 Golden State Warriors made no secret of the frustration surrounding their title defense. The pressure to win a third consecutive championship put them under pressure. The whole world knew Kevin Durant would be leaving in free agency after the season, and Draymond Green even asked him to. The season finally ended in a final against the Toronto Raptors, and the Warriors, hampered by injuries, moved on to a period of redevelopment. They end up with the NBA’s worst record during the 2019-20 season.
And that did not bother Warriors coach Steve Kerr so much. “I enjoyed last season, when we had the worst record in the league, more than I enjoyed last season when we went to the finals,” Kerr said on ‘The Ringer NBA Show’. “Last year we had young guys who tried every day, worked hard, and we had a great energy, a good spirit and a good camaraderie.”
Drew Shiller, along with the “Warriors Outsiders”, tweeted another similar quote from the interview. “That year was difficult,” Kerr said. ‘There was a lot going on – some you know and others not. It was very difficult. ” This quote grabs Durant’s attention. When he saw it on Twitter, he answers, simply “It’s hilarious.”
Durant is one of the most active players in the NBA on Twitter, especially when he has to defend himself against criticism. Kerr never directly identified Durant as the cause of the 2019 frustration, but given his departure and the fact that fellow Warriors Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green remain, Durant is justified in assuming that the implication was that he had a hand in the frustration. to come out of that season. Durant also criticized Kerr’s motion violation as less effective in the post-season.
During his media availability on Monday, Kerr expressed his displeasure at the context in which the citation was read and shared.
‘I did a podcast with Logan Murdock a few nights ago and I mentioned during the podcast that last season, in which we had the worst record in the league, was more enjoyable than a coaching goal last season when we were in the lost final. The context was basically that the fifth year after the five-year run was just an absolute bear. That was the tension level, two season-ending injuries during the final, DeMarcus also had a serious injury took him six weeks out of the playoffs. We had all kinds of tension.
The whole point of the conversation was the tension of the five-year run compared to coaching a team of young guys who do not win many matches but are eager to learn. I remarked that it was more enjoyable last year than the previous season. That was it, that was my remark. Drew Shiller decided to tweet today that Steve Kerr said he enjoyed more last season than Kevin Durant’s previous year with the Warriors.
OK, so I want to make that very clear. If you want to get the story right, I encourage you to listen to the podcast before we air this story and use it as my quote, because that’s the farthest thing from the truth. It was a terrible unfair shot. To bring something completely out of context to where people are going to read it and think it was my quote. You have been very fair to me over the years and I rarely have complaints. I know I’m fair to criticism when we play a game. I’m going to make bad decisions that you can criticize. I’m going to do a lot of things you can criticize and I deserve it.
But to take that remark and put it in a tweet and send it into the universe was so irresponsible and harmful and I’m angry. And I know what’s going to happen. I know it’s going to be taken to the morning shows and people are going to talk about it and they will use what they think is a quote, it’s something that has been completely made up. I’m not happy. I think it’s wrong. I try to be candid again. I try to share everything so our fans know what our team is going through. Whatever I go through. We like to share our story. That’s a big part of promoting our team. So this is of concern to me. It may be part of the modern media, but it’s dead wrong and I’m upset about it. ‘
Regardless of Durant’s share in what happened that season, it should be noted that Kerr won eight NBA championships. Some consider chasing titles to be the only worthy goal in basketball, but if someone has won just as much as Kerr has, the idea that the pursuit of more may be less inherently satisfying is somewhat understandable. Reconstructions have significantly less pressure and smaller egos. On a daily basis, it might have been more enjoyable, even if the end result was not so satisfactory.
Ultimately, pleasure is subjective. Durant is striving for another ring in Brooklyn. Kerr is making the best of a season with injuries and hopes to re-enter the title mix next season. Considering the comments both have made, it seems to them best that they pursue their goals separately.