Longtime Warriors coach Steve Kerr has long opposed the NBA's use of instant replay.
Golden State's recent dramatic performances against the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks only confirmed his tough stance on the review function.
In an interview with 95.7 The Game's “Willard and Dibs” on Tuesday, Kerr explained his feelings about the replay.
“There are a lot of unintended consequences to replay,” Kerr told Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “But one of the consequences that we've clearly felt over the years is that a stoppage of play is scary for everyone. Sunday's Lakers game was really crazy. Now. , it was because of the shot clock, but it was multiple challenges that led to that.”
“If I was in charge of everything, which I am not, I would eliminate all replays except buzzer beaters. That's it.”
On Saturday, against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, the Warriors dealt with a 23-minute delay in play due to a clock malfunction and officials making multiple trips to the replay monitor.
And when they hosted the Knicks at Chase Center on Monday, Kerr said that even if there was a designated monitor on Golden State's bench, the Warriors would still be responsible for the wrong call on Warriors rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis. He pointed out that there wasn't a good enough angle to contest the foul call.
“We have a monitor behind the bench and two coaches, Seth Cooper and Jacob Rubin, are watching the monitor,” Coach Kerr said. “So they watch the replay and give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. The problem is the monitors don't always have a good view. Sometimes the view is good Sometimes people criticize me because I don’t have one.”
Kerr is not a fan of instant replay. Because instant he believes that replays cause a spiral of unnecessary problems that ruin the flow of the game.
Above all, the four-time NBA champion coach wants everyone involved in the game, whether fans, coaches or players, to have the best possible experience.
“It just puts you in a situation where you have these unintended consequences,” Kerr added. “You can take this issue out of the hands of good umpires who can make a decision based on the correct result. And all of a sudden the audience is just sitting there and the momentum is taken away from the match and the viewing experience is will get worse.”
Kerr prefers to call the game as the referee sees it, and says buzzer beaters are the only exception that merits video review.
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