Kerr Addresses Durant-Warriors Stand-Off, Confirms Lakers Approach For Adams

Steve Kerr was surprised to hear about Kevin Durant’s unhappiness with Golden State Warriors with regard to his injury diagnosis. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher reported that the small forward was “really pissed off” with his current employers over the handling of his calf injury that kept him out for a month and the Achilles injury he suffered upon his return.

Durant is facing almost a year out after rupturing his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, and it occurred just 12 minutes upon his return from a month on the sidelines with a calf injury. It is being claimed that the player is unhappy at being rushed back from injury, which many believe is the reason he suffered the more catastrophic Achilles injury.

"The indication from several league sources is that Durant is not happy with the team, and the presumption is that it stems from whatever role Warriors officials played in his decision to suit up," Bucher wrote. "Coach Steve Kerr says he was told Durant could not further injure himself by playing, which obviously proved not to be true,” Bucher said, as quoted on SFGate.

Kerr flatly denied the report and revealed that there was more than one doctor involved in the process of clearing Durant to return to the court. He revealed that Durant’s own specialist also was shocked after the forward ruptured his Achilles as that was not foreseen by any of the medical staff involved in his recovery process.

"No, we haven't heard anything like that," Kerr said speaking to The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami. "We had not only our staff, but Kevin's own personal specialist, and then a third independent specialist all clear him to play. All three after the fact were shocked at what proceeded with the Achilles, they all said it was the first time they'd ever seen this."

Kerr also went on to confirm the Los Angeles Lakers’ approach for Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams but he was unsure about the details of the job offer to join the purple and gold. He is hoping Adams remains with the Bay Area team, but made it clear that the Warriors will not stand in his way if the assistant coach wants to make the switch.

"Basically," Kerr told Kawakami on Wednesday. "We talked about the LA situation. I called him to tell him that they had asked permission and that we would grant it."

"And so I don't know if they've spoken with him yet, and I don't know what his final answer would be. I don't even know what they would be offering him. But my feeling is that Ron will want to come back, and we want him back. So we'll see how it all shakes out. I will never ever deny anybody permission to speak with one of my assistants," Kerr explained. "I don't understand that philosophy. If somebody comes along with an offer that one of my assistants wants to take, then I'm gonna let him go. Why would I keep them from going after something that they believe in? And if they would rather be somewhere else, I'm not gonna stop them from going."