If we ever needed evidence that the tension within a battered Golden State Warriors squad is getting to Steve Kerr, it’s that first-half debacle in Madison Square Garden on Sunday. For once, the fans’ frustration wasn’t directed at the role players filling in for the mounting injured players. Head coach Steve Kerr is facing a firestorm of criticism following a second-quarter outburst directed at the wrong player. The treatment to rookie Will Richard that moment has triggered fans to call out a blatant display of “favoritism” toward sophomore guard Brandin Podziemski.

The incident occurred with less than two minutes remaining in the first half and the Warriors holding a 52-39 lead.  Richard secured what social media described as a “gritty” steal, handed out the ball in transition, expecting a standard outlet pass to reward his defensive effort. Instead, Podziemski made an errant, overthrown ball that sailed ahead of Richard.

After missing the initial pass, Richard dashed and somehow prevented the ball from going out of bounds. The ball went right into New York’s possession.

Despite the play clearly being a result of Podziemski’s poor execution, Kerr was seen immediately yelling at Richard from the sidelines. The broadcast team even took notice of the misplaced anger, with the announcer remarking, “Steve Kerr is livid right now at Will Richard. I thought Podziemski threw it a little bit too far.”

A visibly confused Richard was promptly pulled from the game as Kerr continued the verbal assault on the way to the bench. In a telling contrast of leadership, Podziemski was seen with his arm around the rookie’s shoulder, offering a consoling pep talk to the teammate who had just been scapegoated for his mistake.

Even an injured Stephen Curry, watching from the bench in street clothes, made it a point to dab Richard up, signaling locker room support for the rookie amid the coaching tirade.

Fans Erupt Over Steve Kerr’s Double Standard

The social media fallout was instantaneous with replays of Podz’ blunder. The Warriors’ faithful accused Kerr of maintaining a “protection program” for Podziemski while being unfair to the team’s younger prospects.

“Steve Kerr was screaming at Will Richard for this play. Richard is the one who got the steal and leaked out. Who is the one who actually made the bad play here? That would be PODZ, who threw a complete and utter GARBAGE outlet pass. Yell at your favorite player, you clown,” one fan wrote, echoing a sentiment that Kerr often lets Podziemski slide for errors that would earn others a permanent seat on the bench.

While some summarized the double standard plainly, “Will Richard steal > overthrown pass by Podz > Turnover > Knicks 3 > Timeout by Steve Kerr: ‘The ball matters! The ball is everything!’”, others mocked Kerr’s “The ball matters! The ball is everything!” mantra by saying, “Go tell that to your son Podz instead, 🤡 coach 🤡”

Most pointed out that if Richard hadn’t desperately lunged for the ball, Podziemski would have been credited with yet another turnover to add to his three first-half blunders. “Kerr is really the only one who doesn’t criticize Podz. He had 3 turnovers already by halftime, and if Richard hadn’t desperately gone to save that ball, Podz would have had yet another turnover.”

The sentiment across platforms was one of disbelief, with fans noting that Steve Kerr was screaming at Will Richard for this play when Richard is the one who got the steal and leaked out. “Imagine falsely blaming Richard for a great defensive play and then taking him out of the game. Steve Kerr is a clown POS, he doesn’t even know wtf he’s watching. No wonder he’s a God damn fraud.”

Most were feeling as confused as Will Richard in that moment. “I don’t see how that’s JWill’s fault, he was about to step out of bound since the pass was too far ahead of him. What does Steve want him to do?”

It ground on fans’ nerves that Kerr yelled at the 23-year-old guard twice – once in that moment, and later when he went back to the bench. They questioned who actually deserved it, concluding that it was Podz, who made a clumsy pass and Kerr should redirect his anger. “Better pass from Podz woulda led to a bucket. Now we know Podz got some dirty secret on Kerr.”

The frustration peaked when Kerr’s subsequent timeout featured Richard getting benched. As the Warriors continue to slide during this difficult road trip, the narrative of earned minutes versus gifted ones is becoming a major distraction.

Critics imagined the damage done by falsely blaming Richard for a great defensive play and then taking him out of the game. “Kerr will see the replay and apologize to Will. That was obviously on Podz.” The consensus remains that Kerr will likely see the error after the game. But for a fanbase already on edge, the optics of the situation were damaging.