During their Christmas Day contest, the Golden State Warriors fell to the Denver Nuggets. A significant part of the loss was how Nikola Jokic was sent to the line on multiple occasions. The former MVP took 18 free-throw attempts.
Following the contest, Steve Kerr made his frustrations clear. He noted how the NBA has been slowly shading high-level defense out of the game by punishing teams with free throws. Kerr’s comments were clearly born out of frustration, but, to a point, they were also fair, considering no other player on the court had more than eight attempts at the line.
“I have no problem with the officials themselves,” Kerr said. “All across the league, we have really good officials. I have a problem with how we’re legislating defense out of the game. That’s what we’re doing in the NBA. The way we’re teaching the officals, we’re just enabling players to BS their way to the foul line. If I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting. It was just baiting refs into calls. But, the refs have to make those calls because that’s how they’re taught.”
Jokic converted all of his attempts at the line, totaling 18 of his 26 total points. Golden State played stellar defense at times, but was unlucky in how the game was being officiated on the day.
"If I were a fan, I wouldn't have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting."
Steve Kerr believes the NBA has legislated defense out of the game pic.twitter.com/KdSwQByhTh
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 25, 2023
With the loss, the Warriors’ five-game winning streak ended. They now look to bounce back when they face the Miami Heat on Thursday.
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