Tom Tolbert and John Lund are broadcasting live from Maui this week, but they found time for Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
Tolbert was chatting about how Hakeem Olajuwon would always get away with traveling calls, and Kerr decided to jump in.
“Speaking of which, did you enjoy the DeMar DeRozan foray to the rim last night?” Kerr said. “How is it that everybody on earth can see these traveling violations except for the three people that we pay to do the job? I don’t get it.”
Tolbert went on to say the refs don’t watch players’s feet. There’s too many other things to watch. The former NBA big man said it feels like the league is fine with these refs missing half the travel calls.
“(Traveling) is a point of emphasis on one particular play, and that’s when you catch-and-go,” Kerr said. “Like if a ball is swung to a guy on the wing, he catches and he goes. That’s an automatic travel whether he travels or not. Honestly. It’s just the one that the officials are taught to see.
“I can literally put together a blooper reel of plays that are embarrassing travels that are just not called. I believe what you just said. It’s a case of they have so many things to look at. They are looking at defensive three seconds, they’re looking at contact in the lane when people are cutting through. They are looking at the charge and block circle. They are looking at everything they should be looking at, which is the basic rule of the game: which is traveling.
“It’s a shame. Guys are getting away with murder out there. And fans see it. My favorite is when you see the visiting team travel and you see like a 1,000 fans in the background all doing the traveling signal with their hands. If those people saw it, how come the refs didn’t?”
Kerr said he wanted to make it clear that Warriors players travel too. But he’s trying to take steps with the NBA to place a greater emphasis on making this call correct every single time.
“To me it’s such an important rule, it’s the foundation of the game,” Kerr said. “And when it’s violated it just feels like we’re not actually playing the game.”
