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During Thursday’s victory against the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr got pretty heated. With the Dubs struggling early on, Kerr took umbrage with a call, and let the referees know it.
While normally calm and mild-mannered, Kerr - like all NBA coaches - occasionally lets his competitive juices take over. Thursday’s outburst was one of the angriest we’ve ever seen Kerr, and cameras caught the coach firing a few aggressive f-bombs in the direction of the officiating crew.
After reflecting on it and watching the replays, Kerr was remorseful. While speaking to reporters, he recognized that he needs to harness his competitive spirit in a more appropriate way.
Steve Kerr said he was embarrassed that he was caught saying two f-bombs to the refs vs Spurs: "Can't use that kind of language" pic.twitter.com/5PaF3tI7C9
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 4, 2017
If you can’t see the video, here’s some of what he said, as transcribed by ESPN:
I need to do better. Honestly, I need to do better. That was embarrassing. My daughter sent me the meme of it. It was all over the internet. I just hung my head in shame. I am very passionate and intense, but I can’t use that kind of wording. I would never say that to anybody in a normal setting. It’s just awful. When I saw that, I was like, “Oh my god. What’s the matter with me?”
Later in the same game, Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich was ejected for a similar outburst. Kerr jokingly blamed his mentor for instilling the habit, saying, “I blamed Pop afterwards. You’re the one who taught me that stuff, Pop.”
Kerr seemed genuinely remorseful for the way he composed himself. It seems likely that, the next time he’s heated over a call, he picks a different set of words to express his displeasure.