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Steve Kerr is a proponent of rest, keeping his players healthy and knowing the NBA is a marathon rather than a sprint. However, he went against his better judgment when he played a not fully healthy Kevin Durant against the Thunder in one of the NBA's biggest early season games. 

Durant is now doubtful to play Saturday night against the Pelicans due to an ankle injury, and Kerr is expressing regret playing the injured star Wednesday.

He also made an interesting comment about the NBA, which has been trying to cut down on teams resting their stars and even thought about creating guidelines for it.

"I thought he was fine. We thought he was fine, but then he got sore afterwards [Wednesday]," Kerr said after Durant sat out the Warriors' 143-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

"I'm sure the league is happy with us because we played him on their 'marquee' game with [Russell Westbrook] and all that stuff, but he came out sore the next day, so we shouldn't have played him."

via ESPN

Kerr didn't make it direct, but this sounds like a comment about the NBA's desire to have teams play their stars in marquee games. The NBA has had multiple situations in the past where big-time players sat out on national TV because they either needed rest or had a non-serious injury. 

Obviously, the Warriors felt Durant was good enough to play because they would have sat him otherwise. However, if the NBA wasn't making star player rest a point of emphasis, would they have still played him? It's hard to say, but Kerr sure doesn't sound happy about it. It will be interesting to see if the NBA gets any pushback from teams later in the season when injuries and rest become more vital.