Steve Kerr Always Tells It Like It Is

The other night Andre Iguodala was pissed that the refs missed a travel call on Mike Conley, so he busted out the travel dance:

Warriors coach Steve Kerr—who was given a technical for arguing about the travel, as was Iguodala for the dance—was asked about it on Bay Area radio today, and here's what he had to say:

Damn, that's a great response! None of that faux "I understand he was frustrated but he's gotta stay calm" shit. Conley took three steps and the refs missed it, an important blown call at the key point in a matchup between the two teams with the best records in the league. Not only is Kerr saying that Iguodala was understandably frustrated, but that bad calls deserve to be mocked. And they do! Can you imagine how much more fun the NBA would be if players busted out mocking dances every time there was a bad call?

The thing is, I don't even think Kerr was standing up for Iguodala with his response here. I think he was asked a question, and he's an honest and funny guy, so that's what his response was.

The Warriors beat the Pelicans in overtime on Sunday, and in the final seconds of regulation Stephen Curry passed the ball to eventually find an open Klay Thompson, instead of taking a final heroball shot. Kerr was asked why people think superstars should always take the last shot, and he didn't mince words. Via Ethan Sherwood Strauss:

It's because people are idiots, that's why. The point of the game is to get an open shot and if a guy's double-teamed he should pass it. That's the game.

Or, here he is when asked about the best coaching start in history:

Since Kerr is a coaching neophyte, plenty of people have tried mining his past for clues as to his style. He played for Phil Jackson on the Chicago Bulls, so that's where he picked up elements of the triangle offense the Warriors run, for instance. The other big influence is Gregg Popovich, as Kerr played in San Antonio for four seasons. You can see some Popovich in Kerr in how he tends to the big picture of a season rather than get caught up in the day-to-day.

Both Popovich and Jackson have biting senses of humor, provoking laughter with a funny comment followed by discomfort with an unkind one. Whether it is Popovich berating sideline reporters or Jackson commenting critically on his peers, underlying both of their senses of humor is a nasty streak. Kerr seems to have the same sense of humor as both of his Hall of Fame coaches, but none of the churlishness. Hopefully the grind of talking to reporters every day doesn't change him.

Photo via Ezra Shaw/Getty