Usually, it is his 3-point performance or offensive prowess that makes Stephen Curry go viral on game days. However, during the recent Warriors-OKC matchup, it was the player’s continuous head shakes that grabbed the attention of the commentators and viewers. Curry reportedly engaged in the action after he was subbed out by Steve Kerr as 8 minutes remained in the tie game. This would compel one to ask: Did Curry resent the Warriors’ head coach then, and after the game? Certainly not, if one is to believe the coach in question.

Steve Kerr recently called in to be interviewed by the hosts over at 95.7 The Game. As the conversation progressed, it didn’t take long for the head shake to be brought up. Kerr replied that he did not discuss the action with Curry. It caused him to believe that “it could have meant anything”. At the same time, he understands where the player was coming from. After all, Curry had just made a shot before being subbed out. Despite this, Kerr is confident about the absence of personal resentment, given the dynamic between him and Curry.

“He trusts me and I don’t, you know, if he’s shaking his head, I don’t take that personally,” said Kerr. “I mean I just feel like, um, we’re always collaborating and trying to do the best thing for the team to win. He knows that I know that and uh…. So it’s not a big deal, I know that.”

As the Warriors-OKC game was tied 84-84, Stephen Curry hit a 3-pointer to take the lead and sent the crowd erupting. The score reached 91-89 in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s favor. Curry hit another 3-pointer to say to his rivals ‘Not today’. Soon after that, the visuals of his alleged disappointment at being subbed out appeared. However, he returned within that same quarter. Curry added 3 additional 3-pointers to assist in the eventual 116-109 win against the top-seeding Western Conference team of the season.

The game was tied during the early moments of the 4 quarter. A nail-biting battle was taking place to determine which team would take the lead. Therefore, why would Steve Kerr choose to remove his best player at that crucial period? As it turns out, Curry would have already crossed the 30-minute mark at that point. If he had played the entire 4 quarter, the player’s minutes would have far exceeded his season’s average playtime. Even the commentators highlighted the need for rest by stating “The key here is gonna be, Curry’s gonna have to check out of this game at some point. He’s not going to play the whole 4”. Steve Kerr would certainly want the Warriors to succeed. However, success shouldn’t come by exerting the star player beyond his capacity.

Furthermore, other players also stepped up during the matchup. Andrew Wiggins went ahead and scored 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists within 38 minutes. Gary Payton II followed that with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists scored. Kevon Looney scored 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists while Brandin Podziemski made 11 points. All of these individual performances would have been enough to convince Kerr to give some rest to his star players. As it turns out, they also made him doubt any ongoing search for a trade scenario.

Steve Kerr reveals developing a brief ‘Temptation’ to not engage in trade talks

The collective performances of the Warriors stars helped the team secure a 3 win over 4 games. This caused Steve Kerr to reportedly develop a weak sense of doubt. After all, he revealed “There’s no question when you see a game like last night, the Temptation is ‘Man, like, let’s just keep going like this. Why would we do anything?’” However, Kerr was immediately brought back to Earth before he could fly higher over the clouds. “Bob’s right. You can’t just look at one game or two games. You’ve got to look at the the full picture and that’s what Mike and staff are doing,” said Kerr.

The Warriors reportedly have their eyes on Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine. According to the trade intel by Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II, Andrew Wiggins is the “obvious salary match” for trade purposes. After all, he holds a $26.2 million cap figure. Meanwhile, according to Slater and Thompson II, the expiring contracts of Gary Payton II ($9.1 million) and Kevon Looney ($8 million) can also be used to work out a potential deal.

In fact, except for Stephen Curry and the players on two-way contracts, no Warriors player is probably safe from trade talks. That brings the number of players in danger to 16! In light of this, Steve Kerr would not want to interfere with any decisions being made vis-à-vis the players.

“It’s also why I think there’s there it’s healthy to have a separation between the, you know, management and the coaching staff because, as coaches, you’re very married to the moment” Kerr added. “It’s up and down all year long and I think management it’s a little easier for them to sort of take the view from above um a little more perspective and really get uh you know get the information all season long that they need to determine what they’re going to do.”

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