Steve Kerr was not happy with the officials after his Golden State Warriors lost Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series with the Los Angeles Lakers 104-101 on Monday night.
Kerr vented that the officials called his Warriors for committing illegal screens. He said the Lakers were rewarded for committing flops.
“I thought the fourth was about [Lonnie] Walker, and it was about — I think we had three or four illegal screens called, and that was disappointing. I didn’t get a look at the replay on any of them, but there were a couple that were very disappointing live. But the Lakers are a team that plays with a lot of gamesmanship. They understand how to generate some calls. I thought they took some flops and were rewarded. But I’ll have to see the replays. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe those were all illegal screens, but it didn’t feel like it watching the game,” Kerr said.
The Warriors have long gotten away with moving screens, though other teams probably have as well.
Here are a few examples of the Warriors doing it against the Lakers:
Golden State Warriors:
The Art Of The Moving Screen. 😌
WAIT.
MOVING SCREENS ARE ILLEGAL?!?
In all seriousness, do all teams plant moving screens at several pts during games? Sure.
But for the Warriors, it’s a way of life & you can literally call it nearly every play down. pic.twitter.com/xr7R2BKs6X
— Lakers Legacy (@LakersLegacyPod) May 7, 2023
And here was one play that got called on Monday:
To the Lakers fans who have a hard time with what they perceive as moving screens by the Warriors, here’s a good example of a foul because there was enough contact to merit a foul. A majority of their other screens don’t have this kind of contact pic.twitter.com/2Vm0zZ4iI2
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 9, 2023
Once you call out the referees and complain about an issue, you tend to be rewarded.
Down 3-1 in the series and with his season on the line, Kerr is resorting to priming the officials to help ensure things go Golden State’s way in Game 5.
