Steve Kerr hasn't shied away from making his stance on NBA officiating known, and the Warriors coach took it to the next level with a vehement rant ahead of Golden State's game against the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
"It has changed though, subtly or not so subtly, over the last month or so," Kerr told reporters at Kaseya Center when asked about a perceived increase in defensive foul calls. "And so, I think the league is trying to find the happy medium. To me, I think there is a happy medium to be found. The players have never been more skilled shooting the ball, dribbling the ball. Incredible amount of talent in the league. We want that talent to shine.
"Fans want to see players make great plays. So, we should have rules that dictate freedom of movement, freedom of flow. But our fans also like competition, and we should have rules that don't allow, frankly, bulls--t. So that's the happy medium. Just don't call the bulls--t, because frankly, we have called the bulls--t for like 10 years, you know. And I've talked about it enough this year, but you asked, so I got my pulpit back."
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Last season, Kerr made a public plea for the NBA to stop players from flopping as the Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers squared off in the Western Conference semifinals. A couple of months later, the league announced a new flopping rule.
And after Kerr called out what he deems bogus and non-bogus calls Tuesday, perhaps the league again will take notice.
"Anyone who watches the game knows if you see a guy come off a high screen and jump backwards into the defender and we give a guy three free throws, that's on us," Kerr continued. "That's stupid. You wouldn't call that in a pick-up game. It'd be embarrassing to call that in a pick-up game.
Golden State Warriors
"If a guy on defense puts up his arm bar and the offensive guy grabs it and hooks it and flails his arms, just don't call it. It's stupid. Again, you wouldn't call it in a pick-up."
The Warriors coach used Golden State's 123-111 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday as an example of NBA referees turning a blind eye to fouls -- reiterating his desire for the league to find that happy medium.
"We're looking [to] eliminate all the gamesmanship and the manipulation of the rules, but if there's a foul, you got to call the foul," Kerr said. "So I think the league will always be searching for the best version of our game. And we're all in the same boat, and we all want the best product. It's good for all of us.
"So, hopefully we can keep working towards finding that."
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