Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton has a number of coaching mentors that he draws inspiration and gets advice from. One that he speaks to pretty regularly is Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
Walton, of course, started his NBA coaching career as an assistant in Golden State under Kerr and took over as interim head coach when Kerr had to miss time due to back issues. The two remain good friends and after Wednesday’s game between the Warriors and Lakers, Kerr decided to take a shot at his protege.
At the postgame press conference Kerr responded to the very first question by claiming that the key to Warriors victory was that he completely out-coached Walton, via ESPN NBA:
Steve Kerr starting his press conference: "I thought the main thing was that I completely out-coached Luke Walton …" ???? pic.twitter.com/Tu0UJx9v9A
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 15, 2018
Kerr’s Warriors were able to defeat the Lakers 117-106, completing the season sweep, though it was far from easy as two of the games went to overtime.
Nonetheless, Kerr having some fun at Walton’s expense was a funny moment and something that should be expected from a disciple of Gregg Popovich.
Popovich is well known for saying whatever he feels like in the media and making jokes and Kerr has been known to do the same. It can be assumed Walton himself laughed when he saw the clip, as the two are still very close and share a similar sense of humor.
Both coaches had difficult tasks on Wednesday as there were a number of players missing on each side. The Warriors were without Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, while Lakers were missing Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart.
The fact that the game was competitive and entertaining is a testament to the job done by both coaches. But to the victor go the spoils, and Kerr got the win so he gets the right to trash talk after.
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