Warriors’ Steve Kerr Told Lakers’ Austin Reaves He’s ‘Not Really Over’ Playoff Series

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Team USA coach Steve Kerr may currently be planning on how to use his players most effectively in the FIBA Basketball World Cup but that doesn’t mean that he has thought of last season’s bitter end.

The Golden State Warriors coach saw his team’s season end in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, just months later, he finds himself coaching Austin Reaves, a member of those Lakers.

The guard said that he has enjoyed having Kerr as a coach but Kerr has been playfully upfront about his dissatisfaction with last season’s end.

“Steve, basically, the first conversation we had was him being like, ‘You know, I’m still not really over what you and y’all did to us this postseason,” Reaves said, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “‘But much rather be coaching you than coaching against you.'”

The Lakers ended the Warriors chances at a title defense with a 4-2 and Reaves was a big contributor in the effort. He averaged 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in the series including a 23-point dagger in the series-clinching victory.

The Lakers would get swept in the conference finals by the eventual champion-Denver Nuggets, but ending the Warriors season was a solid building block for the team.

Reaves is also a key contributor for Team USA in this tournament, averaging 11.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds in four games so far. The U.S. squad is 4-0 thus far in the tournament and will have a test against Lithuania Sunday at 8:40 A.M. ET.