Nick Wright Roasts Warriors Fans For Blaming Steve Kerr After Loss to Kings
The NBA’s most incendiary media personalities took turns unloading on the Golden State Warriors after their 118-94 play-in tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings, and Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright was no exception.
Before he could deliver his talking points on his show, First Things First, though, Wright found himself defending Golden State coach Steve Kerr from a horde of cocky Warriors fans on X Spaces.
Knee-deep in a debate about whether rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis got enough playing time in the loss to the Kings, Wright believed Kerr didn’t deserve any blame for his lineup choices on Tuesday.
“I do not think even close to the most important thing an NBA coach does is manage lineups,” Wright said. “I actually think there are probably—especially on great teams—two or three far more important things.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely wrong,” one Warriors fan told Wright.
Wright continued nevertheless, “If you had perfect AI-automated lineups, first of all, this team still wouldn’t be a championship contender. And second of all, whatever coach you think—you seem to go to Mike Brown—whomever you think the best X’s and O’s coach is, you would be giving up a massive amount of relationship capital that on an aging dynastic team trying to have one last run is wildly critical.”
Hired back in 2014, Kerr led the Warriors to five consecutive Finals appearances and three championships in his first five years with the organization. After the team’s last two disappointing postseason exits, with Steph Curry's prime years dwindling and the Warriors’ dynastic glow fading, some disgruntled fans are clamoring for a change of leadership.
Wright went on to absolve Kerr of any additional blame for “the Draymond escalating nonsense” and also defended the Warriors’ higher-level management. In response to a fan who thought her criticism of Kerr was fair because she “watched all 82 games this season,” Wright countered with the simple line of reasoning that those in the Warriors’ organization probably did too.
“What you are doing right there is an appeal to authority fallacy,” Wright said. “But if you want to follow that same exact logical train, then don’t you think the general manager, team president, and owner watch it even closer than you guys?”
“No, absolutely not,” was the overwhelming and hysterical reaction on Spaces.
Given his line of work, Wright likely understands more than most that some arguments just fall on deaf ears.
