The onslaught of divided opinions also brought plenty of criticism, as Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr caught plenty of flak for allowing his players to coach themselves during a 46-point win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
Kevin Durant wasn't fond of the constant finger-pointing shaming Kerr for employing the tactic against one of the worst teams in the league.
“Everybody just loves to hate on the Warriors,” Durant told Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report at Wednesday morning's shootaround prior to Wednesday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. “Whatever we do, they don't want to just say they hate us, so they're going to make excuses up on why they don't like us or why it was disrespectful.”
“That's what rubbed me the wrong way, because who gives a s**t? Who cares? The product was on the court, the coach was humble enough, and he doesn't have an ego to think he has to do everything on his own. And we know as players that we can't survive without a great coaching staff. It was an amazing exercise, I thought.”
The win was the largest point-differential this season and also a fresh break from routine, as Andre Iguodala and an injured Draymond Green were two of the Warriors' cerebral players drawing up plays after timeouts.
Yet the tactic was frowned upon by former coaches like Sam Mitchell, and some of the Suns players like Jared Dudley, while teammate Devin Booker and opposing coach Jay Triano saw no problem with the twist.
Kerr used his team's maturity and playoff pedigree to his advantage, giving them full rein in the decisions on the court, noting the Warriors had grown tired of his voice on the court.
“Basketball is a collaborative effort,” Durant added. “You don't have one guy controlling everything. You don't have one voice. That's what you've got veterans for, to help the coaches get to us in a different way because we're younger.”
“[David West] can talk to us a little differently than coach Kerr can. But he is the coach and we listen to him, so it's different voices throughout the whole season. I thought it was an incredible idea by coach Kerr. Just to kind of give us the power and let us figure things out on our own.”
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