Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for publicly criticizing an officiating crew a few days ago.
Steve Kerr has been fined $25,000 for criticism of officials. pic.twitter.com/rsTOJhEdig
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) November 20, 2016
The criticism that garnered this fine stems from the Warriors’ recent game against the Toronto Raptors. Golden State pulled off a 127-121 victory in Toronto, but Kerr wasn’t happy with what he considered to be a blind eye towards DeMar DeRozan travelling.
“How is it that everybody on Earth can see these traveling violations except for the three people that we pay to do the job? I don’t get it,” Kerr said in a radio appearance with KNBR 680 (via Comcast SportsNet Bay Area). “It’s bizarre. It’s (traveling) a point of emphasis on one particular play and that’s when you catch and go … it’s just the one that the officials are taught to see.
“But I can literally put together a blooper reel of plays that are embarrassing travels that are just not called. I believe it’s a case of they have so many things to look at — they are looking at defensive three seconds, the contact in the lane when people are cutting through the lane, they’re looking at the charge and block circle — they’re looking at everything except what they should be looking at which is the basic rule of the game, which is traveling.”
Perhaps he is just salty because his fans have been hit with a rather ingenious troll job recently. But Kerr has a rock-solid point here. That said, he also deserves the fine. The rules are firm when it comes to public criticism of the NBA officials by coaches and players. And the head coach didn’t even try to sugarcoat the issue at all.
Likely, Kerr won’t be too upset about the fine. He certainly got his money’s worth with his rant. It’s not the first time he’s gone out of his way to criticize refs, either. He was slapped with another $25,000 fine after Game 6 of last year’s NBA Finals when he called out the refs for “ticky-tack fouls” that resulted in Stephen Curry fouling out in that game.
The Warriors are cruising right now on a seven-game win streak that includes three straight road wins. They are headed to Indiana to face the Pacers on Monday.