Steve Kerr: Comments on Warriors' Last Finals Season Were Taken Out of Context

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr clarified comments he made on a podcast after it went viral that he said he enjoyed coaching last year's 15-50 Dubs more than he enjoyed coaching the Warriors in Kevin Durant's final season with the team.

That tweet caught Durant's eye:

But on Monday, Kerr said his remarks on the podcast were taken completely out of context:

To paraphrase, Kerr suggested it was a tough and grueling year after five straight trips to the NBA Finals. To put that grind in perspective, the Warriors played 105 postseason games during that impressive run, or the equivalent of an entire extra season's worth of game, plus 23 contests on top of that.

Kerr also pointed out the difficulty of the injuries the team faced, from DeMarcus Cousins missing significant time in the regular season to Durant and Klay Thompson each suffering season-ending injuries in the NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors.

So between the expectations of the Warriors to win a title after securing three rings in the previous four seasons, to the grind of another title run and the disappointment of losing star players to injury, the stress added up.

"The whole point of the conversation was the stress of the five-year run compared to coaching a team of young guys that doesn't win many games but is eager to learn," Kerr noted. "And I made the comment, sort of offhanded, that last year was more enjoyable than that previous season. And that was it, that was my comment."

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Kerr was not pleased with how his comments were originally contextualized, likely because it was interpreted by many people to mean that Kerr had a better time coaching a lottery team than he enjoyed coaching Durant.

Kerr told reporters he hadn't talked to KD about the situation but made it clear in no uncertain terms Monday that his intent was never to take a shot at the superstar player.

"We are so thankful for everything that's happened over the years here," he said. "Throughout our run, we've had so many great moments, great players, and Kevin is celebrated here. ... We absolutely wish him well, and we've done that from the start. That's why I'm so angry about this, because this is complete BS."