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Steve Kerr is going to speak his mind. That’s what he’s done throughout his 12-season tenure as the Golden State Warriors’ head coach. Backlash doesn’t deter him.
He said Tuesday before the Warriors’ 130-124 overtime defeat to the Chicago Bulls — their fifth loss in the past six games — that he wasn’t even aware of Stephen A. Smith’s response to him once again pushing for a shortened NBA season that he believes would lead to a more competitive and healthier league.
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Although Smith prefaced his opinion by conceding that Kerr often makes profound statements that deserve everyone’s attention, the ESPN pundit went on to criticize the nine-time NBA champion’s desire to reduce the league’s 82-game schedule by 10 games.
“Minimum salary in the NBA is over 1.2 million. The median salary in the NBA is over seven million. The maximum salary in the NBA goes anywhere on average like $54 million. We’re talking about individuals signing $250, 350 million contracts. And now you come to us talking about there should be 10 less games?” Smith said on Tuesday’s episode of “First Take.”
“What the hell do you want next? You want us to put a diaper and a bib on these guys?”
Smith added: “I assure you, you don’t hear players that are making a million dollars or even making $5 million talking about how there should be less games. You know why? Because they want to position themselves to make that paper. Only when you get to that point do you say stuff like that. Steve Kerr didn’t say that when he was playing. … The NBA just signed an 11-year, $77 billion contract. How do you get that if you don’t play those games?”
This all came up again because Kerr was asked Monday ahead of the Warriors’ 119-116 loss to the Utah Jazz what he would address if he was the NBA commissioner.
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“That was my answer,” Kerr said Tuesday. “And the reason is cause my No. 1 concern is the quality of the NBA product. And I think limiting the schedule would encompass a lot of issues: Player health, player availability, tanking — I think all of that stuff would improve. And I think…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/steve-kerr-reaffirms-desire-for-72-game-nba-season-after-stephen-a-smith-criticizes-stance-im-not-an-idiot-154425602.html
Author : Andy Backstrom
Publish date : 2026-03-11 15:44:00
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