Klay Thompson was a bit grumpy on Friday morning. He blew his tire on the way to the practice facility. “Get ready for some short answers,” he said before sitting down for an interview with reporters.

But then Thompson was asked about ESPN’s recent story on Draymond Green, which detailed the fiery forward’s exploits both on and off the court and, while still a bit grumpy, Thompson wasn’t short.

Included in the piece, ESPN quoted a “team official” saying “The guys might be frustrated by (Green’s) antics, but they had an opportunity to prove themselves without him in Game 5 (of the Finals) and they played like a bunch of (cowards).”

Thompson, although mistaking a Warrior “team official” for a team executive from elsewhere in the league, was ticked off about the use of coward attached to an anonymous source.

“The article pissed me off for this reason,” Thompson said. “If you call someone a coward, how are you not going to put your name on that quote? It’s easy to point at someone and call them a coward behind like a shade or a shield. But why don’t you put your name to it and then you can call us cowards? That’s fine. Tell us that. But to say we played we played like cowards and you’re not going to quote the guy who said it, that’s weak to me, man. How you gonna quote Mo (Speights) and not anyone else? That actually got under my skin. You’re gonna call us cowards and not put your name on the quote? You know what I mean? You’re not gonna quote who said it? Get out of here. That made me mad. We played our hearts out that whole playoffs and you’re gonna call us cowards and not put your name on it. Get out of here.”

Video

Here's video of that Klay Thompson response to @ROSGO21 on the ESPN story from earlier, ticked off about the anonymous "coward" quote pic.twitter.com/nKdwE8bEbt — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 21, 2016

Later Friday, before the Warriors preseason finale, Steve Kerr was asked his thoughts.

“It upset me, too,” Kerr said. “I guarantee you it wasn’t any of our coaching staff. I’d be shocked if it was anyone in basketball management. We don’t do that. Nobody ever said that to me. Not even the press, but to me: ‘Those guys were playing like cowards.’ So I have no idea where that came from. It’s upsetting because you want to keep things in house. If somebody wants to say something, they should put their name on it. If you don’t feel like you can, don’t put your name on it. But I also know how it works these days. What is an unnamed source? Who are sources with knowledge of the team? It’s gotten harder and harder to control stuff and keep things in house these days. Because I think what used to be a credible source is now, the standards are lower. Sources with knowledge of the team is a vague phrase and who even knows who that would be.”