The misfit between Warriors and Kelly Oubre Jr. led to a bad season for the forward, his constant criticism though was totally undeserving as per Oubre Sr.
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Kelly Oubre Jr. had one of the worst experiences playing in one of the best franchises, namely, the Golden State Warriors. Not only did Dubs feel the misfit, even Oubre felt the same as he moved away from the Bay Area to join the Hornets as soon as he got the chance last off-season.
Like Warriors season, Oubre’s year was full of ups and downs and not what both the players himself and fans would’ve expected when the Suns’ wing joined them in the 2020 off-season.
Some fans, particularly on social media, considered his experience with the Warriors as a failure on his part. That has annoyed Kelly Oubre Sr. father of the Hornets player. In a text exchange with NBC Sports Bay Area on Thursday, Oubre Sr. criticized the franchise and the general characterization of his son.
“Not really impressed with the hate coming out of the Bay, considering the team had no real long-term plans for Kelly at all last year and beyond, which was obvious at the end,” Oubre Sr. wrote.
Kelly Oubre Jr. mistreatment was unfair as he gave his all, says Oubre Sr.
Oubre was coming off 18.7-points per game season with the Phoenix Suns, expecting to become a better player after joining Steve Kerr’s team. But what followed was radically different.
Being short of some of their important players, as bad as the Warriors did that season, they clearly looked better when playing without Junior Oubre. This was clearly noticed by the Dubs Nation. They came blazing the youngster on social media every now and then which didn’t sit well with Kelly Oubre Sr.
“Kelly played a large part of last year with a broken wrist, which never gets brought up. He loved his teammates, as he does now, and he’s happy just playing basketball for a coach who told him verbatim that he wanted him not only for his play but also for the professionalism he maintained throughout adversity. And also because of his ability to both lead and follow.”
The 6’7 forward played 55 regular-season games, starting 50 of those. He played through a torn ligament in his shooting wrist and a fracture in his hand. He was unsuccessful and ultimately got out of rotation, playing just 5 of the last 20 games.
The Warriors posting a 15-5 record during that span didn’t help his cause, as he suffered heavy criticism on social media. The back-to-back losses in the play-in tournament added fuel to it.
Coach Steve Kerr seemed surprised by the displeasure expressed by Oubre Sr. but decided not responding to be a better option.
Kelly is meanwhile having a good season coming off the bench, playing around 28 minutes for Charlotte Hornets and helping with 16.7 points, 4 rebounds, and, 1.2 assists shooting a career-best 37% percent from downtown.
