Steve Kerr became the second member of the Golden State Warriors to exit a game early due to an ejection on Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Losing his cool with the officiating crew, Kerr was tossed with a handful of technical fouls.
As a coach, you never know how players will respond to an early exit. Some might view it as an opportunity to match that fire. Others might see it as letting them down. For Warriors’ star Steph Curry, he saw it as a moment to be thankful for, because it saved him from seeing an early exit.
“To be honest, I was gonna do that, but I saw him,” Curry told reporters on Monday.
“That’s why I fouled Kris Dunn because I was watching Coach go crazy and I was appreciative of that.”
Curry’s night ended late in the fourth quarter after he picked up a sixth foul. The Warriors were working on putting together a comeback, which came up short in the end.
“Two crazy calls in a row that you feel like can dictate the momentum of a game,” Curry explained. “Doesn’t mean a win or loss, just dictates the momentum. I love that. That fire from Steve. Somebody had to do it tonight.”
It turns out that Kerr’s frustration was justified. After the game, the night’s Crew Chief admitted that the no-call that Kerr argued was missed.
“The shot by [Gary] Payton hit the backboard prior to being touched by Collins. It should have been ruled a goaltending violation,” Brian Forte explained. “The only way it could have been reviewed was if it was called on the floor and the Clippers challenged the call, because it did not occur in the last two minutes of the game.”
The Warriors came up short with a 103-102 loss to drop to 19-18 on the year. The shaky season from Curry, Kerr, and the rest of the Golden State roster continues. They will return to the court on Wednesday to take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.