Kevin Durant doesn’t have time for the people who are all hot and bothered over every little thing the Golden State Warriors do.
Especially when it comes to how much freedom head coach Steve Kerr grants his players.
Durant’s latest disdain for public perception stems from the reaction to Kerr allowing Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and David West to run team huddles during the Warriors’ 46-point romp of the Phoenix Suns Monday night. Though Golden State’s head honcho made it clear this was a premeditated tactic, and while Suns interim head coach Jay Triano didn’t interpret it as a sign of disrespect, the unconventional exercise has made for incessant debate in the days since.
And Durant could not care less about the unflattering reactions.
Or rather, based on his response, maybe he couldn’t care more.
Here’s what he told Bleacher Report’s Sean Highkin:
Everybody just loves to hate on the Warriors. Whatever we do, they don’t want to just say they hate us, so they’re going to make excuses up on why they don’t like us or why it was disrespectful. That’s what rubbed me the wrong way, because who gives a s–t? Who cares? The product was on the court, the coach was humble enough, and he doesn’t have an ego to think he has to do everything on his own. And we know as players that we can’t survive without a great coaching staff. It was an amazing exercise, I thought.”
This is an amazing response, because it’s so damn spot-on. Who the hell cares if Kerr is going to give some of his veteran minds coaching reps? It doesn’t make him any less important to the Warriors’ cause. Finding a way to keep his players engaged over the course of an 82-game season, as this team seeks to make a fourth straight NBA Finals appearance, is a job unto itself. He deserves to be commended for eschewing total self-importance for this little experiment.
And for all those who believe this was a show of disrespect toward Phoenix, I have a solution: If the Suns want to be taken seriously enough that they’re not viewed as a tester-opponent for teams like the Warriors, they should consider not getting shellacked by 40-plus points every other night.
