Stephen Curry Admits Owner's Criticism Of Mark Jackson Was A Distraction

The Golden State Warriors are on top of the basketball world, sporting a league-best 18-2 record thanks to a 13-game winning streak.

Many are giving credit to first year head coach Steve Kerr, who took over for Mark Jackson after an ugly exit. Reports had surfaced that Jackson and owner Joe Lacob were struggling to get along and were involved in a power struggle within the organization, which to to Jackson being fired after a 51-win season.

Lacob went further into detail about that situation late last week, when he was talking about how great it was to have a coach like Steve Kerr.

“Part of it was that he couldn’t get along with anybody else in the organization,” Lacob said. “And look, he did a great job, and I’ll always compliment him in many respects, but you can’t have 200 people in the organization not like you.”

All-Star point guard Stephen Curry, who has been the catalyst behind this huge start for the Warriors, told ESPN that the whole situation has been a big distraction:

Following Lacob’s public apology for taking issue with Jackson’s management skills, Curry told reporters: “I think it’s unfortunate, just the distraction from what is going on right now. Obviously, we’re playing well, and you can nitpick of what’s the difference between this year and last year, but you’re talking about two great coaches [in Jackson and current coach Steve Kerr].” …

Of Lacob, Curry said: “For him to apologize is a big gesture.”

“My whole thing is not to discredit anything Coach Jackson did because he was such a great coach for us and elevated a lot of our individual games, and I’m proud of that and appreciate that. And obviously it’s a new era, a new experience that we’re in right now, and we’re enjoying it.”

Golden State's next game is Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m. ET against the Houston Rockets.