The Steve Kerr-James Harden saga took a turn Thursday, when Warriors coach Steve Kerr replied to this NBA tweet:
#JamesHarden is putting on a show!#Rockets
— NBA (@NBA) February 2, 2018
Tune in: @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/155wTPcoI3
Kerr’s tweet was quickly deleted – but not before someone screenshotted it:
Why Steve delete this 🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/4oAMgr7KaV
— J Margs (@JamesMargariti) February 2, 2018
“I thought it was a direct message,” Kerr said. “My new iPhone is killing me.”
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, since Kerr’s message was intended to be private, the league didn’t see a reason to issue a fine. Kerr said he’s trying to figure out the new iPhone 10 and realized his tweet was public soon after publishing.
“A friend DM’d me and said what do you think about this clip, and I responded to him,” Kerr said. “I hit send, and I was like, ‘Oh no.’ I went right over to [assistant coach] Chris DeMarco because I have no idea how to delete a tweet. I rarely even send a tweet, let alone delete one, so I gave it to DeMarco. He deletes it after maybe thirty seconds, and I go, ‘What do you think? Am I going to get away with it?’ And he goes, ‘Hell no.’
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything too damning.”
Not too damning? Kerr called the NBA promoting a highlight of a rival player an “embarrassment.” That’s a shot at both Harden – who excels at these legal, though dubious-looking moves – and the league. Players have been fined for saying less.
The message to any player or coach who wants to publicly criticize officials after the game: Tweet then delete the gripe. That’ll get your point out and, based on this precedent, prevent you from getting fined. Call it the accidental tweet on purpose.