Steve Kerr mocks refs for not calling LeBron James’ Game 3 ‘slide tackle’
Kerr wasn’t too happy with the league review stating that LeBron James’ steal in the last minute of Game 3 was clean.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA, in an effort to be more transparent, releases reviews of the calls made in the last two minutes of games. The idea is to give fans who might not be all too familiar with the rules a chance to find out whether the officials made the right decisions. In theory, these reports are helpful to clarify controversial calls by explaining why they were made.
Sometimes, however, they only complicate things further. In the official review of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the NBA said that in the play you see above, LeBron James clearly stripped the ball from Stephen Curry before contact was made. The obvious collision between Curry and James only happened after Curry lost control.
That didn't sit well with Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who used sarcasm to express his anger:
Steve Kerr on whether Curry turnover vs. LeBron in Game 3 was correct no-call: "I absolutely agree. Slide-tackling is totally legal."
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) junio 11, 2015 Kerr joked he was going to teach slide tackling to his team before the game, and he would teach them traveling next season. #NBAFinals
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) junio 11, 2015 That play is not the reason the Warriors lost, but it ended a Warriors comeback. Instead of Curry getting free throws to cut the deficit to three, Matthew Dellavedova went to the line and extended the Cavaliers' lead to seven.
Officiating has been a hot topic in the finals and will likely continue to be. Kerr, like any good pupil of Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson, is using humor to put some pressure on the referees. Whether it works will be clear after Thursday's game.
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