Kevin Durant told reporters that he disagreed with head coach Steve Kerr‘s suggestion that the Warriors lacked the requisite anger in an “embarrassing” Tuesday night loss to the visiting Celtics.
“I thought we move off of joy?” KD asked.
Durant added that he isn’t worried about the Dubs bouncing back.
Per Yahoo Sports:
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr kicked things off, saying, “It starts with a passion, and an anger and an intensity, and it wasn’t there tonight.” The Warriors (44-20) lacked focus out of the gate, falling behind 11-0, and committed a season-high 22 turnovers.
“I thought we move off of joy?” Durant asked, knowing that’s a phrase Kerr frequently employs to characterize their style of play. “Now it’s anger? OK. I disagree with that one. I think all around, top to bottom, coaches, players, we just gotta be better.”
During that display, it was impossible not to conclude that Durant intentionally took a swipe at his coach. The individuals in the room were stunned with his comments. From the moment Durant took his seat, his demeanor was of someone prepared to go on the attack.
There are members of the organization concerned that Durant’s behavior is a sign that he’s already got one foot out the door. But there are others who aren’t reading too much into what they consider to be the standard rigors and annoyances of an 82-game season.
“[Just] come back tomorrow, watch film, practice, and see where we go from there,” Durant said about how the Warriors will respond to the loss. “We usually bounce back pretty well, so we’ll see what happens.”
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