Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr doesn't have any issue at all with Kevin Durant's recent criticism of the team's offense during the playoffs. In fact, Kerr says he viewed KD's comments as a fact.
In case you missed it, Durant recently sat down with the Wall Street Journal for a wide-ranging interview, during which he spoke candidly about his issues with the Warriors offensive sets, specifically in the later rounds of the playoffs.
"The motion offense we run in Golden State, it only works to a certain point. We can totally rely on only our system for maybe the first two rounds. Then the next two rounds we're going to have to mix in individual play. We've got to throw teams off, because they're smarter in that round of the playoffs. So now I had to dive into my bag, deep, to create stuff on my own, off the dribbles, isos, pick-and-rolls, more so than let the offense create my points for me."
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Kerr addressed Durant's thoughts with The Athletic's Anthony Slater, and explained that all great offenses are more effective during the regular season and opening rounds, but it's the individual play of all-time greats, such as KD, that helps teams get over the hump.
“I wasn’t at all offended what Kevin said because it’s basically the truth,” Kerr told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “You look at any system, I mean, I played the triangle with Michael Jordan. The offense ran a lot smoother all regular season and the first couple rounds of the playoffs than it did in the conference finals and Finals. It just did.
“That’s why guys like Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are who they are. They can transcend any defense. But defenses in the playoffs, deep in the playoffs, combined with the physicality of the game — where refs can’t possibly call a foul every time — means that superstars have to take over. No system is just going to dice a Finals defense up. You have to rely on individual play. I didn’t look at (his comment) as offensive.
KD won two NBA titles, including two Finals MVPs, in his three years in Kerr's offense, while averaging 29.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game during the post-season.
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