Steve Kerr needs to be more like David Fizdale

The Golden State Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr doesn’t complain often, but he should speak out like David Fizdale to protect Steph Curry

Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale broke the Internet last night. Following a loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the first year coach went on an epic rant following the game. He went in on the officiating.

Fizdale was upset that Kawhi Leonard took 19 free trows while the entire Grizzlies team took a combined 15 attempts from the charity stripe. A team with a point guard like Mike Conley and physical bigs like Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph got outshot by one guy. Conspiracy or not, you can’t win that way.

More from Blue Man Hoop

• 3x champion may come to regret forgoing Golden State Warriors reunion
• Golden State Warriors: History shows USA may need Stephen Curry for more than the Olympics
• 7 players Golden State Warriors might replace Klay Thompson with by the trade deadline
• Golden State Warriors villain pours on more pain to end USA’s World Cup
• Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry continues philanthropic efforts off the court

So the Grizzlies’ coach complained that the officials didn’t give his team a chance to win. He argued that Conley (who has never received a technical foul in his career) deserves more respect, even though he never begs for calls. It was a wonderfully quotable tirade.

He talked about his lack of experience compared to Gregg Popovich’s saying that “they not gonna rook us.” He closed it with an awesome mic drop line in “take that for data.” It seems like he got his money’s worth of words ahead of the fine the league will surely be sending him.

It was nice to see the coach stand up for his star point guard. Conley isn’t the only guard who gets bumped around with no calls. In fact, there’s a pretty high-profile player who deserves a few more whistles.

Steve Kerr needs to stick up for Stephen Curry like Fizdale did for his guys. The Golden State Warriors coach owes it to his best player to take a stand for him. Especially with the way Curry gets hit.

Andre Iguodala spoke about how teams try to get physical with Curry ahead of the playoffs. Teams grab and push him when he’s off the ball. Curry can’t run across the lane without getting his jersey pulled or getting hip checked.

Curry is no Conley when it comes to dealing with the officials, but he’s also no Chris Paul. The Warriors’ superstar tends to be more mild-mannered, even opting to let extremely egregious contact go without saying something. He’ll get a technical foul every now and then, but generally he just goes about his business, regardless of how much or how hard he gets hit.

Kerr finally stood up for his best player after Game 6 of last year’s NBA Finals. After an entire season of watching Curry get beat up, the head coach, he spoke up when there were 48 minutes left in the season. Seriously.

So, once again, it’s happening. It’s inexcusable that role players seem to garner more respect from officials than the two-time MVP. He picks up tacky-tack fouls on defense and gets beat up on offense with no calls.

Now, I can’t tell someone to go out and lose their money. If Kerr publicly opposed the referees, he would have to send the league a pretty big check. So, in that sense, he has to be smart.

But if Kerr feels that keeping his best player fresh and getting free points from the line is worth it, then he should make statements. Because the physical toll that getting constantly hit takes on the point guard can wear on him as the postseason progresses. The Cleveland Cavaliers have shown that they like to be rough with him.

This is partly on Curry as well though. Unlike James Harden and Russell Westbrook–two guys who get to the free throw line a lot–Curry doesn’t throw himself on the ground or snap his neck back. He should sell contact more instead of trying to just fight there. If he gets a warning for flopping, then so be it.

Next: Top 25 Warriors of All-Time

Steph Curry is a two-time MVP. Outside of LeBron James, he’s the league’s most important asset. It’s not a secret that stars get preferential treatment yet it seems like Curry doesn’t. If lesser players are going to get more calls, then something needs to change with how he is officiated.

Fizdale’s comments won’t win him a series, but it’ll probably get Conley a few more calls. Kerr needs to do the same with his point guard.