How Kerr, Warriors got ‘What the f–k' side out-of-bounds play

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You've probably heard the expression that the NFL is a "copycat league."

The reality is that the term absolutely can be applied to the NBA as well, as there only are so many plays an NBA team can run.

And Warriors coach Steve Kerr recently told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan about the origin of a certain side-out-of-bounds set Golden State uses.

"I didn't want my guys yelling out, 'WHAT THE F---!' with families and little kids sitting there," Kerr said. "So I told them, 'Hold your arms up like you're shrugging.' It was a little less conspicuous that way."

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So the play is called "What the f--k?" Yes, that is the name.

"The origins of WTF date all the way back to 1969," MacMullan writes. "Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson recounts when his former (New York) Knicks coach, Red Holzman, drew up the play earlier in the season. Then later in the year, in the final seconds of a tight game, he called a time out to set it up again.

"Holzman lost his train of thought. He looked around and mused in the huddle as an attentive Jackson leaned in, "Now what the f--k was that play again?"

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Jackson used the play when he was coaching the Chicago Bulls, and Kerr -- who played for the "Zen Master" in Chicago -- added it to his playbook when he was hired by the Warriors in 2014.

So Kerr and every other NBA coach are thieves?

"I prefer to refer to us as copycats," San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told MacMullan.

See -- told you so.

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