Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. (AP/Sue Ogrocki)
For the second time in his career, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will be manning the sidelines for the Western Conference All-Stars during NBA’s All-Star festivities in New Orleans come February. He marks his stint this time though with some strong words, in admonition of some players.
On Monday (Tuesday in Manila), the one-time NBA champion coach called out some of the league’s players who “made a mockery” of the system by submitting non-serious selections on their ballots.
This year’s player voting process included outputs from media, coaches and even the active players themselves.
“Sent my vote in yesterday, didn’t alter anything,” Kerr revealed in an ESPN report that he did not change his initial selections, before pivoting to the subject.
“I am very disappointed in the players, though. I mean, they’ve asked for a vote, and a lot of them just made a mockery of it,” he said.
Kerr’s displeasure comes from recent numbers which indicated that out of the 324 players who voted, 128 elected not to vote for LeBron James, while 154 passed on Kevin Durant. The pair are considered to be the league’s premiere superstars and were supposedly no-brainer picks.
“So I don’t know what the point is. So that was too bad, but all in all, these things are always going to be debatable about who’s starting and who gets named,” the 51-year-old bench boss continued.
“There’s always going to be worthy players left out of the starting lineup, left out of the roster entirely. It’s the same thing every year and I don’t know what the perfect answer is,” he said.
Kerr added that he read the entire list of player votes himself and was baffled by some of the names who received votes.
“I saw the list. I saw all the guys who got votes, and I don’t know. Are you allowed to vote for yourself?” Kerr was quoted as saying.
“I mean, there were 50 guys on there who had no business getting votes. So although a lot of people wrote in their buddies for the presidential vote as well, so maybe that’s just their own way of making a statement. But I just—I think if you’re going to give the players [the vote], I think they should take it seriously. That’s my own thought.”
In a similar manner, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra also ranted about the players’ seemingly lack of sincerity when casting their votes—especially with the case of Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook, who was left off the West’s starting five despite averaging a triple double this season.
“How is Russell Westbrook not in the starting lineup?” Spoelstra asked. “I know how it’s important to players and especially guys that are giving their heart and soul and emotions into the game and should be rewarded for it,” the Asian-American coach said. Khristian Ibarrola