During their Christmas Day contest, the Golden State Warriors fell to the Denver Nuggets. A significant part of their loss was how Nikola Jokic was sent to the line on multiple occasions, with the former MVP taking 18 free-throw attempts throughout the game.
Following the contest, Steve Kerr made his frustrations clear, noting how the NBA has been slowly shading high-level defense out of the game by punishing teams with free throws. Kerr’s comments were clearly born out of frustration but, to a point, were also fair, considering no other player on the court had more than eight attempts at the line.
“I have no problem with the officials themselves,” Kerr said. “All across the league, we have really good officials. I have a problem with how we’re legislating defense out of the game. That’s what we’re doing in the NBA. The way we’re teaching the officals, we’re just enabling players to BS their way to the foul line. If I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting. It was just baiting refs into calls. But, the refs have to make those calls because that’s how they’re taught.”
Jokic converted all of his attempts at the line, totaling 18 of his 26 total points. Golden State played some stellar defense at times but was unfortunate in how the game was being officiated on the day.
"If I were a fan, I wouldn't have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting."
Steve Kerr believes the NBA has legislated defense out of the game pic.twitter.com/KdSwQByhTh
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 25, 2023
Following their loss, the Warriors five-game winning streak comes to an end. They will now look to bounce straight back when they face the Miami Heat on Thursday (Dec. 28.)
