Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is one of the most respected leaders in sports, even if fans may forget that when ripping their hair out over lineup and rotation decisions.
Kerr dropped a helpful reminder about the pitfalls of social media and said that former Warrior James Wiseman helped remove him from the often negative landscape.
“James Wiseman was getting beaten up on social media and I went to him and I said, 'Hey let's get off social media together.' It was one of the best things I've ever done. I'm able to avoid reading what a terrible human being and coach I am," Kerr said to 95.7 The Game's Willard and Dibs.
James Wiseman helped Steve Kerr get off social media
It’s funny that Kerr was able to get off social media at the same time as Wiseman. The Warriors selected the Memphis product with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, ultimately turning out to be a disastrous decision. Wiseman never really panned out and the Warriors ended up giving up on him, trading him to the Detroit Pistons at the 2023 mid-season deadline.
Before that, Wiseman was something of a lightning rod amongst Warrior fans. When a player is taken that high in the draft, there is an expectation that he is going to be an immediate contributor, but that just isn’t always the case. Injuries played a huge role in why Wiseman didn’t work out with the Warriors, but there were also other factors at play.Â
Owner Joe Lacob clearly loved Wiseman and claimed that he was an extremely rare talent. A lot of other people in the organization also liked Wiseman, but obviously Lacob’s voice is going to carry a lot of weight.Â
It may not have been the same sort of situation they had with Jonathan Kuminga where Lacob was really high on him while others in the organization wanted to go a different route, but whether fair or not, Lacob’s increased hand in Warriors draft choices is going to be part of the narrative of how the franchise's dynasty came to an end.
Going back to the social media though, Kerr is probably smart to stay off it. While Kerr was praised for his great coaching on Thursday night in an improbable win against the Houston Rockets, fans are going to question every single decision he makes after losses.
No coach is going to get it right every time, but Warriors fans can tend to forget that Kerr is one of the best in the game and he's still arguably the best option the franchise have to maximize whatever is left of the Stephen Curry era.
Unfortunately for Wiseman, getting off social media didn’t really work out as he's now out of the league entirely, while Kerr is still in a good spot as the head coach of a now-storied NBA franchise.