The Portland Trailblazers toppled the reigning champion Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night but the talk of the game is surrounding Steve Kerr’s blowup with the officials.
During the final minutes of the contest, Draymond Green was called for a flagrant foul on Portland’s Zach Collins that Kerr was more than unhappy with. Kerr is normally one of the more calmer coaches in the league, taking a page out of the Zen Master’s (Phil Jackson) playbook. However, last night was a rare sight as Kerr berated the officials and required Kevin Durant to hold him back.
Durant spoke with reporters after the game about Kerr’s ejection and said:
“I understand his anger, his rage, especially for that call. But I thought we should just keep playing. It was a common foul, I thought. The refs looked at it differently, and I understand why coach was frustrated.”
Kerr also took the opportunity to talk to the press about the situation, remarking:
“I was just shocked that that was called a flagrant foul, […] I don’t remember how that’s determined. I don’t remember if that’s determined in New York or if it’s the officials on the floor, but that was head-scratching that that could be called a flagrant foul. The guy is going to go in for a dunk. You have to make sure he doesn’t dunk it. I told (the official) that I begged to differ.”