Steve Kerr has jokes.
The Warriors coach entered a press conference Monday and pretended to flop on a reporter. He then cheekily called it a foul.
Steve Kerr enters his presser, flops on a reporter and jokes it should be a foul. He then discusses the noise coming out of the Rockets camp at length. pic.twitter.com/KS0PC8DmvE
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 29, 2019
When reporters asked about the Rockets' complaints that the referees missed multiple calls in the Warriors' 104-101 Game 1 win, Kerr couldn't help but add another jab toward the Rockets
"You guys are going to ask about all that? I thought we were just going to talk about the game," Kerr joked.
When asked about the "noise" coming out of the Rockets' camp, Kerr called it "disappointing" and said the complaints are taking away from the purpose of the game.
"It's disappointing because the focus should be on two teams who played extremely hard," he said. "Watching the tape, both teams just got after it and competed.
"But we just watched the tape upstairs and you don't think there were 10 calls that we thought we got fouled? I mean, this is how it goes. ... It's very, very difficult to officiate an NBA game. There's all kinds of gray area."
This is where things get interesting — while Kerr didn't mention Harden by name, he said many players have gotten good at drawing fouls through sneaky tactics.
"In the modern game, a lot of players have gotten really good at deception, creating contact, and I don't remember people falling down on 3-point shots when I played," he said. "...There's so much deception as part of it, part of the game that it's very difficult to officiate.
"But every coach in the league will tell you that you watch the tape afterward and you think, 'Man, we got screwed.'"
Kerr went on to say that some teams get lucky, some don't, but that's he's unhappy this has become the main storyline of the Warriors-Rockets series.
Harden lamented Sunday night that he wanted "a fair chance" from officiating after he said referees missed calls all night, but the NBA reported that officials didn't miss any calls against Harden in the last two minutes.