Daryl Morey Points out Warriors HC Steve Kerr's Past Criticism of NBA Refs

The Houston Rockets aren't happy with how Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinals playoff series against the Golden State Warriors was officiated. 

And while some people aren't interested in hearing Houston's complaints, the team's general manager, Daryl Morey, pointed out Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr's has complained about referees in the past himself.

Morey appeared to be responding to Kerr taking a jab at the Rockets by pantomiming a flop and saying "the focus should be on two teams who played extremely hard" rather than on officiating when he spoke to reporters on Monday:

"Every coach in the league will tell you, you watch the tape afterwards and think, 'Man, we got screwed,'" Kerr said of the ongoing conversation about the officiating in Game 1. "The reality is, you get some, you lose some, and refs do the best job they can and you move on to the next game. So I'm disappointed that this has become the whole narrative when it really should be about two great teams competing against each other."

The Rockets were singing a different tune after Game 1, however.

"I just want a fair chance," James Harden said after the contest, per Jack Maloney of CBS Sports. "We all know what happened a couple years back with Kawhi. Call the game the way it's supposed to be called and we'll live with the results."

Harden was referencing Warriors center Zaza Pachulia injuring Kawhi Leonard in the 2017 Western Conference Finals by undercutting him during a jumper, an injury that essentially ended Leonard's time in San Antonio and cost the Spurs their best player in that series.

It appeared that Warriors defenders undercut Houston jump-shooters on several occasions in Sunday's Game 1, though many of those potential fouls weren't called. And the league did find in its two-minute report that the Warriors should have been whistled for three defensive fouls down the stretch that went uncalled.

Houston's frustrations with the officiating against the Warriors dates back to last season's Western Conference Finals, to the point that the organization had Game 7's officiating audited, per Zach Lowe and Rachel Nichols of ESPN.

The report—sent as a memo to the league office—"tabulated the net result of 81 potential missed calls and non-calls in Game 7 of that series" and concluded that "those 81 instances cost Houston a total of 18.6 points in that game."

"As we told the Rockets, we do not agree with their methodology," NBA spokesman Mike Bass responded.

Given the history between these teams, however, the officiating conversation will likely persist for the entirety of the series.