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Steve Kerr Explains Why He Publicly Ripped Brandin Podziemski

Kerr said Podziemski has "lost a little focus," and called one of his shots on Tuesday night, "a little insane."

Josh Wilson

Kerr and Podziemski engage in discussion during a Warriors game
Kerr and Podziemski engage in discussion during a Warriors game / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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Steve Kerr, normally measured and tactical with his words to the media, seemed uncharacteristically uncorked on Tuesday night when he publicly ripped one of his players, second-year guard Brandin Podziemski.

"He needs to be a smart player," Kerr said to the media. "He's one of our guys that's capable of making really good decisions. He had a lob when we were up [10] in the late second quarter that was frankly insane."

The next day in a radio interview with Willard & Dibs on 95.7 The Game, he continued to speak acerbically about Podziemski, saying, "He's lost a little focus on what actually wins [games]." Podziemski admitted after the game Kerr at one point threatened to bench him mid-game, of which he said, "I'm all for, I'm trying to get better."

Also on the phone interview with local radio, Kerr explained why he decided to be so public with his critiques of the second-year guard:

"Everything I said has already been said to Brandin. The reason I said it to the media is it puts a little pressure on him. I never say anything that I didn't think about first. That didn't just come you know, out of anger for the loss. That came because he needs to get the message. [That] message is a really important one because he's such a good player, he's such an important player for us."

Podziemski has been launched into a high-pressure role due to some early-season injuries the Warriors are up against. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have both missed some time and are getting older, which Kerr acknowledged as a reason why the Warriors are asking Podziemski to, "speed up the process."

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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