Things I Liked
Steve Kerr. So often in sports, when a team is going bad, the head coach will demur and sort of, but not really, go after his team publicly.
What I love about Kerr is that he does not shy away from public criticism after bad losses. Here is what he said after the Warriors were devoured by 30 in Utah:
"“I saw one team get their (tail) kicked. Our hearts weren’t in it. At this level, if your heart’s not in it, I don’t care how much talent you have. You’re going to lose. … It happens. It’s the NBA. It’s a long season. Our guys will tell you, that was a pathetic effort out there. That was disgusting basketball.”"
He then said it was “painful obviously that our guys are mentally fried right now” after a rather lackadaisical win over the Kings.
I appreciate this from Kerr. Of course, he has leeway to be critical when his team is 41-12. But he could easily shrug off losses considering the Warriors’ outstanding record. Instead, he clamps down on what went wrong, and lets loose his real thoughts.
Here is Kerr on the Warriors building bad habits after losing to the Nuggets:
Steve Kerr says the Warriors are building some bad habits, mentions boxing out pic.twitter.com/FyvxQilN27
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 4, 2018
For all the talent the Warriors have assembled, Kerr is a big reason why they are a cohesive unit. You can tell that players respect him, that his opinions carry weight. He doesn’t sugarcoat things, and he is not afraid to admit wrongdoing. This is what a good coach looks like.
LeBron rumors. I woke up on Thursday morning to the thought that LeBron James could potentially hear the Warriors’ free agency pitch, should Golden State show interest this offseason.
I’m not here to discuss whether LeBron would be a good fit for the Warriors; that would take up a whole other column. But I will marvel at the fact that it is LeBron (or his camp) leaking his interest in the Warriors, when, just 4-5 years ago, the Warriors wouldn’t have even been able to get a meeting with LeBron.
Marcus Thompson had an excellent rewind in his piece in The Athletic. In the summer of 2014, when LeBron wound up returning to Cleveland, the Warriors made a run at him, eager to add him to their young and promising roster. They couldn’t even get in the door.
Now, the Warriors are in a situation where they can literally turn down LeBron’s services. Crazy how life can come at you fast sometimes.