Why Kerr’s seat with Warriors stays cool even as others heat up originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The hot-seat season has commenced for NBA coaches, and Dub Nation surely enjoyed its opening night.
There was Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis, after LA’s loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, grabbing the microphone and taking a transparent shot at head coach Darvin Ham.
“We have stretches where we just don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor,” Davis said, knowing how the comment would be interpreted.
Having endured multiple storms of criticism this season, Ham fired back on Wednesday, saying he’ll “agree to disagree on that one.”
When unrest hits the Lakers, Warriors fans reach for the popcorn and find a comfortable seat – not only for the squabbling down south but because of the relative serenity in the Bay Area.
Not once this season – or any other season – has one of Golden State’s core veterans ever hinted at disapproval of coach Steve Kerr. The history of the NBA tells us that grumbling vets are the surest sign of discontent.
Stephen Curry has not gone there because it’s not his nature to hydrate seeds of controversy and, also, he genuinely believes Kerr is the right coach. Klay Thompson, even in his darkest moments, has not chipped at Kerr out of respect for all that has been accomplished under the coach.
What about Draymond Green, you say? He is, after all, the Warrior most likely to step toward friction. While wrestling with his personal crises as the Warriors wobbled through a season of unwelcome wrinkles, there was ample opportunity for him to lash out against Kerr.
Nope. To the contrary, Green continues his staunch support of Kerr.
A vocal segment of fans spent the season blasting away at Kerr. Outside observers, including media, questioned some of Kerr’s decisions. There were times when Warriors CEO Joe Lacob, sitting courtside, simply could not conceal his displeasure with the product he was seeing.
And yet, Lacob, whose ears are open to the vets, presented Kerr with a lucrative two-year contract extension in February.
“That’s a lot of money,” Green…
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