Steve Kerr on NBA upholding no-call on LeBron James-Stephen Curry collision: ‘I absolutely agree. Slide-tackling is totally legal’

The NBA said referees missed two calls in the final two minutes of Game 3, but a call the league upheld still has a lot of people up in arms – LeBron James’ collision with Stephen Curry.

As the NBA explained it:

James (CLE) cleanly strips the ball from Curry (GSW) before contact is made. The contact made after the strip is incidental to the players’ attempt to retrieve the ball.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a different explanation:

Steve Kerr on whether Curry turnover vs. LeBron in Game 3 was correct no-call: "I absolutely agree. Slide-tackling is totally legal."

— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) June 11, 2015

Steve Kerr sarcastically on league ruling LeBron's "slide tackle" was correct call. "Absolutely.... We're gonna teach it."

— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) June 11, 2015

Most importantly, Kerr’s sarcastic sense of humor continues to be great.

To the issue at hand, I think the NBA’s explanation of the sequence of events is correct. LeBron bats away the ball before colliding into Curry. But LeBron committed himself to barreling into Curry. Whether or not he successfully stripped Curry, LeBron was going to collide into him. Should Curry have to operate under that duress?

In the same way a defender can’t stick his foot under a shooter, I’m not sure that should be allowed.