Steve Kerr blames loss to Lakers on Millennial's lack of focus
The Golden State Warriors' 112-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday was so unbelievable that head coach Steve Kerr could only come up with one explanation: It was a generational loss.
How else can one explain a plus-.900 team losing to a sub-.200 team this late in the season?
Following the upset, Kerr said that the Warriors had "zero attention span" and simply couldn't focus, which he jokingly believes stems from the team's Millennial culture:
The average age of the Warriors roster is 27.5 years old, which isn't that young, but qualifies the Dubs as a Millennial-centric team (nine of their 15 players are 28 or younger). The Millennial generation is loosely defined as being born between the early '80s to early '00s, which technically qualifies all 15 Warriors (the oldest player, Anderson Varejao, was born in 1982).
According to Kerr, this is a running joke between him and Stephen Curry -- a 27-year-old Millennial -- as Curry sometimes asks Kerr if he can use his phone during games (via the San Francisco Chronicle):
“I joke with Steph all the time: ‘We’re Millennials.’ This team is filled with Millennials, and Millennials can’t focus,” Kerr said: “… Sometimes he jokingly asks me if he can send a text or a tweet during the game.”
Curry said: “Guilty as charged.”
Unlike Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, Kerr is clearly kidding.
All jokes aside, the Warriors couldn't connect from deep (13.3 percent on 3-pointers), couldn't take care of the ball (20 turnovers), and lacked energy on defense. Golden State was below even its theoretical floor.
Meanwhile, the Lakers played up to their absolute ceiling. It was the perfect mix for an upset, and the fact that the game was on national TV certainly made the moment feel bigger than it truly was.
The Warriors (55-6) are still one game ahead of where the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (54-7) were at this point, and with 15 of their final 21 games at home, are still in a solid position to tie or break the 72-10 record.
This loss was a blip in their season -- albeit an unexpected and embarrassing one -- and nothing more.
Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.
