The Golden State Warriors couldn't repeat the fairytale finish that they had last season. Their campaign ended in six games against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023 Western Conference Semifinals. This gave their personnel some free time to talk about the NBA Finals.
Draymond Green hosted Warriors head coach Steve Kerr on his podcast to discuss the Miami Heat's Game 2 bounce-back win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. One thing Kerr pointed out was the mindset of Erik Spoelstra's men, particularly with staying ready whether or not they're in the rotation.
“None of those guys on Miami are sitting there saying, ‘Well, I didn’t play,’ or ‘Man, they put in so-and-so.’ They’re just all about winning,” Kerr said. “And you know this from our groups that we’ve had, when you have that championship mentality, every guy is bought in. Every guy is just trying to win. Nobody — nobody cares about any of that stuff.”
Steve Kerr pretty much explains why the Warriors struggled this year 👀 pic.twitter.com/t2BV5f6Zqj
— Charlie (@PlayoffDray) June 5, 2023
While Steve Kerr didn't single out anyone in particular with his comments, the Warriors did deal with rotation dilemmas with two of their young players Jonathan Kuminga and Jordan Poole. Both saw their playing time drastically reduced in the postseason, which led to reports of discord internally.
“You don’t go in the locker room saying, ‘Well, I should have played more.’ You just wanna win. And that’s the beauty of finding that magic when you have a championship team is that everybody is bought in. And it makes the decision for the coach really simple. You just go with your gut and go with whoever’s playing well.”
While Kerr didn't name anyone specifically, Warriors insider Marcus Thompson claimed it was an “obvious” reference to Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga. Rumors of Poole and Kuminga of potentially being on the trading block this offseason have been floating around as the Warriors search for an upgrade more fitting with the existing core.
Marcus Thompson thinks there's no question Steve Kerr was referring to Poole and Kuminga with his comments on Draymond's podcast pic.twitter.com/iR70Wa8XgU
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 6, 2023
The Miami Heat don't have the most talent or size, but no one can match their discipline up and down the roster. Whether or not this was indeed a veiled jab at Poole and Kuminga, Steve Kerr clearly wanted the same peace and harmony in Golden State.
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