Without uttering the words "sorry" or "apologize," Steve Kerr feels a measure of shame and made it clear he regrets the language used in a tirade that was captured by national TV cameras this week.
Angry with officials in the first quarter of the Warriors-Spurs game Thursday in San Antonio, Kerr was overheard hurling a couple F-bombs toward the crew. The video/audio raced through the internet, resulting in the coach being tapped with a bit of family discipline.
"I need to do better. Honestly, I need to do better," Kerr told reporters in Denver on Saturday. "My daughter sent me the meme. It was all over the internet. I just hung my head in shame.
"I'm very passionate and intense. But I can't use that kind of wording. I would never say that to anybody in a normal setting. It's just awful. I say that and thought, ‘Oh God, what's the matter with me?' I've got to do better."
Kerr playfully placed the blame on Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, one of his mentors, who also showered officials with similarly colorful language and was assessed back-to-back technical fouls and ejected with 4:47 remaining in a 112-92 Warriors win.
Aware that his temper could get the best of him in the future, Kerr got a tip from one of his former teammates at the University of Arizona in the 1980s.
"I talked to Tom Tolbert yesterday and he said I have to do what the NFL coaches do with the laminated placard," Kerr said. "That might be the right idea.
Sports
"But, no, there's a certain amount of yelling you have to do as a coach when you don't like what's going on. Maybe you're trying to motivate your guys, maybe you're trying to get on the ref to change the momentum a little bit. That's all part of it.
"But what I said the other night was inexcusable. I can't use that kind of language."
In short, Kerr realizes he was wrong and won't do it again. Unless he does.
