Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr seems like a generally chill, down-to-earth guy. Here’s eloquent and cerebral and manages to be passionate without seeming like a hothead.
But sometimes a referee makes a call Kerr does like, and all bets are off.
On Saturday, Kerr apologized for yelling at a ref during the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs on Thursday. Camera captured a barrage of F-bombs from the coach, including a succinct, “Fuck you, motherfucker” directed at an official. Via ESPN, here was Kerr’s mea culpa:
“I need to do better. Honestly, I need to do better,” he said. “That was embarrassing. My daughter sent me the meme of it. It was all over the internet. I just hung my head in shame. I am very passionate and intense, but I can’t use that kind of wording. I would never say that to anybody in a normal setting. It’s just awful. When I saw that, I was like, ‘Oh, my God. What’s the matter with me?'”
Here’s a video of Kerr’s first-quarter tirade:
You don't want to make Steve Kerr angry… pic.twitter.com/9Sp9uQaNbv
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 3, 2017
And here’s “fuck you, motherfucker,” in all its glory:
Rated R Steve Kerr is always funny pic.twitter.com/THO6u1aZKy
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) November 3, 2017
Kerr said some amount of hassling the ref is necessary but that he went too far in the language he used.
“I think there’s a certain amount of yelling you have to do as coach when you don’t like what’s going on,” Kerr said. “Maybe you’re trying to motivate your guys, maybe you’re trying to get on the ref to change the momentum a little, and that’s all part of it. But what I said the other night was inexcusable, and I can’t use that kind of language.”
