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The 2018-19 Golden State Warriors have made no secret of the frustration surrounding their title defense. The pressure to win a third consecutive championship weighed on them. The whole world knew Kevin Durant was going in free agency after the season, and Draymond Green even called him out for it. The season ultimately ended in a final loss to the Toronto Raptors, and the injured Warriors entered a period of retooling. They finished with the worst record in the NBA during the 2019-20 season.
And that didn’t bother Warriors coach Steve Kerr so much. “I enjoyed last season when we had the worst record in the league, more than I enjoyed this last season when we made it to the finals,” Kerr said on “The Ringer NBA Show”. “Last year we had young guys trying everyday, working hard and we had great energy, good spirit and great camaraderie.”
Drew shiller, co-hot of the “Warriors Outsiders,” tweeted another similar quote from the interview. “Last year was tough,” Kerr said. “There was a lot going on – some you know and some you don’t know. It was very difficult.” This quote caught Durant’s attention. When he saw it on Twitter, he has answered, simply “This is hilarious.”
Durant is among the most active players in the NBA on Twitter, especially when it comes to defending against criticism. Kerr never directly named Durant as the cause of 2019’s frustration, but given his departure and the fact that other Base Warriors Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green remain, Durant is correct in assuming that the implication was that he had contributed to the frustration. get out of this season. Durant also criticized Kerr’s movement offense as the one that becomes less effective in the playoffs.
During its media availability Monday, Kerr expressed his displeasure to the context through which the quote has been read and shared.
“I did a podcast a few nights ago with Logan Murdock and I mentioned on the podcast that last season, where we had the worst record in the league, was nicer from a coaching perspective than the previous season when we lost in the final. The context was, basically, that after the five year race that we were in, this fifth year was just an absolute bear. It was the stress level, two injuries from end of season during the finals, DeMarcus also had a serious injury which He took him out of the playoffs for six weeks and we had all kinds of stress.
The focal point of the conversation was the stress of the five-year-old race versus training a team of young guys who don’t win many games but are eager to learn. I made the comment, a little offhand, that last year was more enjoyable than the previous season. That was it, that was my comment. Drew Shiller decided to tweet today that Steve Kerr said he enjoyed last season more than Kevin Durant’s last year with the Warriors.
OK, so I want this to be extremely clear. If you really want the story to be accurate, I encourage you to listen to the podcast before you kind of take this story as ramifications and use it as my quote, because that’s the furthest thing from the truth. It was a terribly unfair blow. Take something completely out of context to the point where people are going to read it and think it was my quote. You have all been very fair to me over the years and I rarely have any complaints. I know I am fair for criticism every time we play a game. I will make some bad decisions that you can criticize. I will be doing a lot of things that you can criticize and I deserve it.
But taking that comment and tweeting it and sending it out into the universe was so irresponsible and damaging and I’m angry. And I know what’s going to happen. I know it’s going to be included in the morning shows and people are going to talk about it and they are going to use what they think is a quote that’s actually something that’s completely made up. I am not happy. I think it is wrong. Again, I try to be frank. I try to share everything so that our fans know what our team is going through. What I am going through. We love to share our story. It’s a big part of promoting our team. So this is really worrying for me. It may be part of modern media, but it is absolutely wrong and I am upset about it. “
Regardless of Durant’s part in what has transpired this season, it’s worth noting that Kerr has won eight NBA Championships. Some may view the pursuit of titles as the only worthy goal of basketball, but once someone has earned as many as Kerr, the idea that chasing more might become less satisfying on its own is somewhat understandable. With the reconstructions come a lot less pressure and smaller egos. On a daily basis, it could have been more fun even if the end result was not so satisfying.
Ultimately, enjoyment is subjective. Durant pursues another ring in Brooklyn. Kerr is making the most of an injury-riddled season and hopes to return to the title mix next season. Considering the comments the two have made, it seems like it’s for the best that they pursue their goals separately.
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