SAN FRANCISCO – Minutes after the Warriors’ late loss to the Rockets in Houston on Wednesday, coach Steve Kerr blistered game officials with a scathing rant heard around the basketball world.
Three days later, gaining the clarity of hindsight and having a private conversation with the powers that be within the NBA, Kerr is apologetic.
“Let me just say, I will say publicly, I am embarrassed about it,” Kerr said after the team’s 90-minute practice Saturday. “Anytime I criticize an official after the fact, I feel terrible. I’m embarrassed by it. Sometimes, with these games the emotion kicks in and you say things you regret.”
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Kerr’s viral postgame rant Wednesday night stemmed from a play in the final seconds. With the Warriors clinging to a 90-89 lead, forward Jonathan Kuminga and Rockets guard Jalen Green dived onto the floor after a loose ball. Green got there a split-second earlier, and Kuminga made an overtly physical attempt to pry the ball away. Crew chief Bill Kennedy whistled a loose-ball foul on Kuminga, awarding Green with two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining.
Green made both, giving Houston a 91-90 lead that held until the final buzzer.
HOUSTON HAS THE LEAD AFTER THIS WILD SEQUENCE 😱 pic.twitter.com/vg6xPLZUBx
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 12, 2024
Kerr blasted Kennedy for making the call that, in the end, decided the game.
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“You’re going to call a loose-ball foul on a jump-ball situation? With guys diving on the floor? With the game on the line?” Kerr asked, rhetorically, during his postgame news conference. “This is a billion-dollar industry. You’ve got people's jobs on the line.
“I give the Rockets credit. They battled back. They played great defense all night. But I feel for our guys. Our guys battled back, played their asses off and deserved to win that game – or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game. And that was taken from us by a call that I don't think an elementary-school referee would have made, because that guy would have had feel and said, ‘You know what? I'm not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.' ”
Steve Kerr comments on the controversial call at the end of tonight's Warriors-Rockets NBA Cup game
— Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area (@nbcswarriors.bsky.social) December 11, 2024 at 9:35 PM
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Kerr on Saturday said he would keep the NBA’s response private but wanted to clear the air and express his remorse, particularly for disparaging Kennedy without mentioning him by name. Kennedy, 58, is a 27-year veteran of almost 1,500 regular-season games, as well as 151 NBA playoff games.
“I wouldn’t change anything about complaining about the call,” Kerr said. “But Bill Kennedy is a great referee. Been in the league for a long time. I feel good when I walk into the arena, and I see Bill. I feel lousy that I said what I said afterward. He didn’t deserve that. That was my mistake.”
That was the second time this season that Kerr unleashed considerable fury onto the officiating crew, as eight days earlier he castigated a crew led by veteran official Tyler Ford for failing to see Nuggets forward Christian Braun call a timeout when Denver had none remaining.
Calling a timeout when the allotment is exhausted results in a technical foul, which in this instance would have given Golden State a free throw.
“Everybody saw it,” Kerr said on Dec. 3 in Denver, “except for the three guys we hire to do the games.”
Kerr had better be careful. He’s on the league’s radar, and further instances could lead to an announced fine.