Following Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr apologized to the media for lying about his starting lineup.
Kerr was asked before the game if Andrew Bogut would remain in the starting lineup, and he told reporters there would be no changes. However, Andre Iguodala ended up getting the start instead of Bogut.
“When he asked me if I was starting Bogut, I lied,” Kerr admitted after Golden State’s 103-82 win, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. “No, I did. I mean, I lied. I figured I have two press conferences a day and I’m asked a lot of strategic questions, so my options were to tell the truth … (so) if I tell the truth, it’s the equivalent of me knocking on David Blatt’s door and saying, ‘This is what I’m going to do.’ If I evade the question, it would start this Twitter phenomenon, ‘Who is going to start for the Warriors?’ Or I could lie.
“So I lied. Sorry, but I don’t think they give you the trophy based on morality. They give it to you if you win. So sorry about that.”
The initial question was asked by Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, who said Kerr also apologized to him personally.
Ran into Steve Kerr right after his presser. He immediately apologized for lying to me about the lineup change. "I had to do it," he said.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) June 12, 2015
Kerr has a point. The Warriors needed to make an adjustment after coming out flat in Game 2 and Game 3, and he wanted that adjustment to take the Cleveland Cavaliers by surprise. It did, as Iguodala tied Stephen Curry with a game-high 22 points and added eight rebounds.
If Kerr lying to the media helped the Warriors tie the series at 2-2 rather than going down 3-1, he shouldn’t regret it a bit. The question now will focus on whether the Cavs can shake off an incredibly eventful night for LeBron James and win a pivotal game out west.
