The NBA keeps introducing new rules with the hopes of making the game more interesting. Back in 2019, the league added the coach’s challenge. As the name suggests, the head coach of a team could challenge a decision made by the referee under this rule. This season, the league modified the rule and added a 2nd challenge if the 1st one is successful. Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, seems to have been in luck as he finally got a coach’s challenge to go in his favor.
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At one point in the Golden State Warriors-San Antonio Spurs In-Season Tournament contest yesterday, Steve Kerr used his challenge. After the referees announced that the Bay Area side had won the challenge, Kerr was in disbelief. As animated as ever before, the 58-year-old let out a hilarious reaction.
During the postgame conference, Kerr was asked to talk about the reaction that he had. The GSW coach revealed being dumbfounded upon winning the challenge, which usually does not go in his favor. “I was in shock. I’m not used to winning challenges even when they look obvious,” Kerr said.
The veteran coach added that referees are ‘judge and jury’ of these challenges. Therefore, he doesn’t expect much from these calls because officials are more often than not unlikely to admit their errors.
Steve Kerr once spoke against the coach’s challenge
Back in 2019, when the league adopted the new coach’s challenge rule, Steve Kerr was one of the many personalities in the basketball community who spoke against it. Dishing out his honest opinion on the same, the then-three-time Champion coach revealed that he wasn’t a “big fan” of the rule.
Justifying his argument, Kerr said, “Not a big fan. I’m not a fan of replay in general. I think just maybe using it for buzzer beaters at the end of the quarter, end of the game. I’d be all for that and eliminating everything else. There’s way too many stoppages in play already.”
As much as Kerr hates the coach’s challenge, the Golden State Warriors benefitted a lot from them during the 2022 postseason. Throughout their 2022 Championship run, Kerr used his challenges extremely strategically.
With the 118-112 victory over Gregg Popovich’s team, the GSW have won their eighth game of the campaign. With a subpar 8-9 record, the Warriors are currently placed 10th in the West. Facing against the likes of the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Phoenix Suns as their next five matchups, it’ll be interesting to see how the Warriors will fare in the coming few weeks.
