Kerr neglects Curry: ‘I’m such an idiot’
OAKLAND, Calif. — Steve Kerr finished his speech and handed the microphone back to Bob Fitzgerald, the MC at the Warriors’ championship parade rally. He took his seat next to his wife, Margot, and immediately got in trouble.
“You didn’t mention Steph,” she told him.
First Kerr denied it. But his wife was so certain, he knew she was right. That feeling when you know you messed up instantly washed over him.
“Oh my God. I’m such an idiot,” Kerr said he told himself. “I blew it. I completely spaced.”
Kerr got up and walked over to his point guard and apologized.
“Steph, I’m so embarrassed,” Kerr told him. “I forgot to talk about you. You’re not that important to the team anyway.”
They both laughed. Curry brushed it off as nothing to sweat. Kerr walked back to his seat, content he’d resolved his mistake. But it wasn’t over.
The lapse did not go unnoticed as Warriors fans on social media came to the defense of their beloved Curry.
Kerr initially said he wasn’t going to shout out each player. Halfway through his speech, he changed his mind and went player for player. From the end of the bench to the superstars. But he stopped at Durant.
He did mention Curry, but it was inside of his praise for Klay Thompson.
Kerr forgetting to praise Curry, on the heels of declaring Kevin Durant the Warriors’ best player on The Lowe Post podcast, fit perfectly into the buzz of how the Warriors take Curry for granted.
The arrival of Durant, and his performance in The Finals, has rendered Curry to No. 2 status in the minds of many nationwide.
But the Bay Area is still partial to Curry, who turned the Warriors from dysfunctional to dominant. So all treatment of Curry is being viewed by many local fans through a protective lens.
“As they should be,” Kerr said on a phone interview from his home in San Diego.
“It was a horrible oversight. What he means to the franchise, I should’ve finished with up with him. How in the hell could I forget Steph Curry?
“What I should’ve done is gone back up there and grabbed the mic. What I would’ve said, what I should’ve said, is he makes this whole thing work. Everything revolves around him. The whole culture revolves (around) not only his talent, his unselfishness, but his joy.”
It should be noted the Warriors gave Curry the prime spot during the parade. His bus was last in the parade. He was also the last announced and the one carrying the trophy. He was also the last speaker.
The Warriors are also expected to sign Curry to a five-year, $205 million contract this summer.
Curry, celebrating in Los Angeles with his family, was unavailable for comment. But Kerr said he and Curry have an ”unbreakable bond and was certain Curry didn’t take issue with being left out of his impromptu speech.
“It was just a stupid oversight. Not on my game,” Kerr said.
“My wife said, ‘You’re the guy who forgot to thank his spouse at the Academy Awards.’ She’s right. He’s the person most responsible for what we’ve built, and I didn’t thank him.”