Back in September, Kevin Durant got exposed for using secret "burner" social media accounts to defend himself in online arguments. He later admitted he felt "idiotic" for using them, and it was widely considered to be one of the biggest social media fails in the sports world in 2017.
With that in mind, you wouldn’t think KD’s own head coach would resort to using a burner Twitter to comment on opposing players, but that’s what some people are accusing Steve Kerr of doing. He tweeted and deleted a shot at James Harden and some NBA referees on Thursday night, and while he may have simply thought better of the tweet after sending it, many are now wondering if Kerr didn’t mean to send the tweet from a different account in the first place.
It all started when the official NBA Twitter account tweeted about Harden just after 10 p.m. ET on Thursday. It featured Harden taking and making a step-back three-pointer against the Spurs during the Rockets’ 102-91 victory over San Antonio.
A short time later, Kerr saw the NBA tweet and had something to say about it. On his official account he suggested Harden traveled on the play. He said it was "an embarrassment" Harden wasn’t whistled for a walk.
The tweet didn’t stay up long. But plenty of people were able to get a screenshot before it disappeared, and they wondered why in the world Kerr would take aim at Harden and the refs like that. Some concluded Kerr simply got caught up in the moment before deciding against leaving the tweet up. But more than a few people suggested Kerr may have meant to send it from a burner account, just like KD.
Kerr hasn’t spoken publicly about any of this yet. But it’ll be interesting to see what he has to say. If he meant to send the Harden tweet from his account, most of the Rockets players are probably going to have the same reaction Chris Paul had to something Kerr said to him during a recent game.
And if Kerr meant to send out the tweet from some secret account he uses, he's likely to get clowned the same way KD did. Either way, we wouldn’t expect Harden and the Rockets to forget about what Kerr said anytime soon.
