Warriors' Steve Kerr Seemed Baffled By Reporter’s Question About NBA Finals

Kerr was not interested in talking about the NBA Finals after the Warriors' loss
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. / Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
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Just 10 days after the trade for Jimmy Butler last month, Draymond Green boldly proclaimed that the Golden State Warriors would win the championship. During NBA All-Star weekend, Green raved about the addition of Butler to the team, and how he sees it putting them at the forefront of title contention.

Unlike Green, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is not ready to start thinking about the NBA Finals. Instead, Kerr is just concerned with the team making the playoffs.

Following the Warriors' loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, a reporter asked Kerr about if his bench is good enough for the NBA Finals. Kerr seemed annoyed by the question, initially responding: "You're gonna ask that again?"

Kerr then brushed off any talk about the Finals. “We would like to make the playoffs," Kerr said. "The playoffs. You’re talking about the Finals? We just want to make the playoffs. Let’s not talk about the Finals.”

Though Stephen Curry embraced Draymond's statement, saying, "We love pressure. We love expectations," Kerr is maintaining his focus on just getting to the postseason. As a coach, Kerr's approach definitely makes sense as it wouldn't be smart to let the team get ahead of themselves, particularly after a humbling loss to the 76ers when Butler was out due to injury.

Currently, the Warriors stand at 32-28 and seventh in the Western Conference. The conference race is tight between the six-ten seeds with all five teams within two games of each other. Ideally, the Warriors would like to at least earn the sixth seed to avoid the play-in tournament, but that spot will have to be fought for over the last month and a half of the regular season.


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Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.