The Warriors were expected to have MRI results Wednesday for Gary Payton II’s fractured elbow to determine the severity of the injury, but as of 5 p.m. PT, coach Steve Kerr said the team didn’t have any news to report.
Kerr joined 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto” for his weekly appearance and gave his thoughts on GP2, Dillon Brooks and more, following the tense 1-1 start to the Western Conference semifinals series against the Grizzlies. Kerr said he talked to Payton Wednesday. Listen to the full interview below:
"He seems to be doing all right,” Kerr said of Payton. “We texted earlier and he said he was in a good frame of mind. But no results yet. I haven’t heard the results yet from the MRI. So we’ll have to wait and see.”
After Game 2, Kerr blasted Brooks for his Flagrant 2 foul, when he swiped Payton’s head as he went up for a layup and eventually landed hard on his left arm, which led to the fracture. As part of his statements against Brooks, Kerr noted how the Grizzlies forward violated basketball’s unwritten code of dirty play versus physical play.
"Everybody sort of knows that -- whether it's in the NBA or a pickup game at your local Y -- guy runs in for a layup, you don't undercut him, you don't hit him in the head, you don’t knock him down to the point where he doesn’t have the ability to control his body,” Kerr said. “Because then, everything is susceptible to injury. Thankfully it wasn’t worse, in terms of a neck or a back injury or something. Anybody who plays basketball understands that code. In the NBA it’s even exaggerated because the players are all aware that they’re making their livelihoods by playing the game. To me, the code that exists in the NBA is the same one that exists in pickup games around the country."
Payton was just months away from likely securing the first multiyear deal of his career. This season he solidified his role with the Warriors as the 15th man on opening night, following five years as an NBA journeyman. It’s entirely possible that his postseason is finished and he’ll head into free agency with some uncertainty.
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The NBA is yet to suspend Brooks any further, so it appears he will be on the floor for Game 3. Kerr said the Warriors won’t retaliate.
"You don't go down that path,” Kerr said. “You just play. You turn to the next game. You rally the troops."
95.7 host Damon Bruce also asked Kerr if Brooks’ foul was the “worst, most egregious, that's-a-code-breaking foul” he’s ever seen.
“Honestly, the one last night,” Kerr said. “As a player? I can’t even remember. But those are the ones that you think about, the clothesline, the defenseless guy in the air fouls.”
