While the Golden State Warriors aren’t calling Marcus Smart a dirty player, they certainly don’t like what he did.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr explained to reporters why he took exception to the Boston Celtics guard’s dive into Stephen Curry on Wednesday night. The Golden State superstar exited Celtics-Warriors in the second quarter due to a foot injury he suffered under the impact of Smart’s dive.
Kerr and Smart argued about the play on the court.
Afterward, Kerr addressed his confrontation with Smart.
“I thought it was a dangerous play,” Kerr said in a postgame press conference, as seen in a video Bay Area Sports HQ shared via Twitter. “I thought Marcus dove into Steph’s knee, and that’s what I was upset about. (I have) a lot of respect for Marcus, he’s a hell of a player, a gamer, competitor. … We talked after the game, we’re good. But I thought it was a dangerous play, and I just let him know.”
So to recap, Kerr believes Smart made a “dangerous” play, and Warriors stopper and provocateur Draymond Green believes the dive “wasn’t dirty”. Celtics coach Ime Udoka and star Jaylen Brown echoed Green’s comments.
Smart defended himself after the game and even credited Kerr for sticking up for one of his players like a good coach. Smart also confirmed he and Kerr spoke about the incident and remain on good terms.
For what it’s worth, the Celtics trounced the Warriors 110-88 to take over fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
