Following the Golden State Warriors’ 120–114 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Christmas Day, coach Steve Kerr stated that he had no issues with NBA officiating. However, he was quite outspoken about the rules put in place for the officials to call.
The Nuggets shot 32 free throws in Monday’s game, including a career-high 18-for-18 performance from Nikola Jokić. The two-time NBA MVP was held to 4-for-12 shooting from the field, yet finished with 26 points because of his foul shooting. And Kerr had strong thoughts on the matter during his postgame press conference.
“I have a problem with the way we are legislating defense out of the game,” Kerr said. “It’s what we’re doing in the NBA. The way we’re teaching the officials, we’re just enabling players to b.s. their way to the foul line.
“If I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the second half of that game,” he added. “It was disgusting. It was just baiting refs into calls.”
"If I were a fan, I wouldn't have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting."
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 25, 2023
Steve Kerr believes the NBA has legislated defense out of the game pic.twitter.com/KdSwQByhTh
Warriors star Stephen Curry, who was called for four personal fouls in the game, echoed his coach’s thoughts.
“It does cater to the guys who can sell calls,” Curry told reporters. “When there’s physicality, it’s tough because it’s inconsistent at times. What’s the tone of the game?
“Like tonight, you feel like there’s physicality on one side, and then kinda ticky-tack on the other,” he added. “Consistency is key when it comes to understanding how you can defend. It was tough tonight; it slowed the whole game down.”
Golden State was called for 23 team fouls (to Denver’s 17) in the game. Besides Curry’s four, Andrew Wiggins and Trayce Jackson-Davis each drew five personal fouls. Kevon Looney was called for three as the primary defender on Jokić, holding him to a poor shooting performance from the field.
