Steve Kerr plans to play four Warriors together at All-Star Game
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says there will be a point during the 2017 NBA All-Star Game when he will have Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on the court at the same time.
"Oh, I'm absolutely going to play them all four together," said Kerr, who'll coach the Western Conference All-Stars. "Those four will be together for sure. I can guarantee you that will happen at some point because that'll be a pretty cool thing."
"That would be really cool," Thompson said of playing in the game with his three All-Star teammates. "I wonder who the fifth player would be."
That is what everybody else is wondering, too. Might Kerr be bold enough to insert Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook with the Warriors' Big Four?
Asked whether that scenario could play out, Kerr grinned and politely walked away. For now, Kerr wants to savor the accomplishment of four players, plus the coaching staff, representing the Warriors in New Orleans on Feb. 19.
"It's a great honor for those guys individually and for us as an organization," Kerr said. "It's pretty remarkable to have this group together right now and to see them all playing so well together along with the rest of our guys. It doesn't always work that way -- where you put a group together, a group of stars -- and it doesn't always click. But it's clicked because our guys are unselfish, and they enjoy playing with one another, so we're really happy for all four of them."
Green, who earned his second straight All-Star nod, has sacrificed his scoring numbers since the arrival of Durant last offseason. He's thankful that the coaches awarded talent and winning.
"That's special. It says a lot about this team and the success that we've had," Green said. "[It shows] you can have whoever you want on your team -- if that team is not successful, you're not getting four guys in. That says a lot."
Of the Warriors' Big Four, Kerr said he wasn't sure Thompson was a lock to get in.
"I'm glad the coaches recognized Klay's two-way ability," Kerr said. "You think about last week; he went from Kyrie [Irving] to Russell to James [Harden], like, in three games. They were his primary guys, night after night. Somebody on our staff compared him to a yellow lab chasing a ball all day long. He won't stop. He'll keep chasing the ball all day."
Of the players who didn't make the All-Star Game, Kerr said his lone surprise wasLos Angeles Clippersguard Chris Paul, who is sidelined with a hand injury, not being voted in by the coaches.
Aside from that omission, he was fine with how the rosters shaped up, and he had a message for those who consistently complain about the snubs.
"When people say, 'Well, so and so should have made it,' the next phrase has to be, 'Well, who shouldn't have made it,' right? And we'll, for sure, see a bunch of people on TV today saying, '[Rudy] Gobert should have made it, [Damian] Lillard or [C.J.] McCollum.' I have no argument with that, but you better qualify it and say who shouldn't be on it, because that's where it gets tricky."
Green agreed with his coach's snub take, and he added another snubbed name to the list.
"The only thing that really surprised me was that CP didn't make it," he said about Paul's omission. "I thought CP would make it, and then there would be a sub somewhere. Like, when I saw he didn't make it, it really shocked me. And [Carmelo Anthony]. I thought Melo would make it as well. So those two really shocked me. Other than that, there really wasn't any surprises."
