Warriors confident they can ‘move forward’ after Draymond Green-Steve Kerr spat
SAN FRANCISCO — Count all involved in Draymond Green’s latest outburst as confident the Warriors can move past it, as they always have.
“We move forward,” Green said, repeating the line five times over the course of his postgame news conference following Golden State’s 120-97 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. He spent almost the entire third quarter in the locker room and all of the fourth on the bench in sweats after getting into a back-and-forth with coach Steve Kerr early in the second half.
Then he got behind a microphone to explain the situation. The only surprise was that it wasn’t a “Draymond Green Show” exclusive.
“Tempers spilled over,” he continued. “We play basketball. It’s an emotional game. People lose their emotions sometimes. It happens. It is what it is. We’ve been at this for a long time. Sometimes when you’re with people for a long time, there’s a level of comfort and (expletive) happens. We move forward.”
Kerr, in many fewer words, expressed the same sentiment.
“We need Draymond. He’s a champion. We’ve been together for a long time,” Kerr said. “It’s unfortunate what happened, but it happened.”
Green was ejected in animated fashion Saturday night, picking up his fifth and sixth technicals of the season, when he took issue with the Phoenix Suns, and then the officiating crew. On Monday, he directed friendly fire toward Kerr, his coach for the past 12 seasons, during a timeout three-and-a-half minutes into the second half.
Kerr called timeout after the Magic converted their first five possessions into points. At last, the Warriors forced a stop on Orlando’s sixth time down the floor, and Green threw the ball the away — his first and only turnover — leading to a take foul on Quinten Post and a free throw that quickly flipped Golden State’s 58-57 halftime advantage into a 71-66 deficit.
“I just thought we lost our focus there a little bit,” Kerr said. “We had it out a little bit. He made his decision to go back to the locker room to cool off. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
In the huddle, the duo that has been a part of four championships exchanged heated words. Nothing new, especially for a player as passionate and outspoken as Green, or a coach as accustomed to it as Kerr. What was novel was what happened thereafter.
Green stood up and walked away, ushered by team security personnel into the locker room. He wasn’t seen again until the beginning of the fourth quarter, when he emerged from the tunnel in a track suit and took a seat at the end of the bench.
“I don’t think it was a situation where it was going to get better,” Green said. “It was just best to remove myself. That’s it.”
Kerr confirmed that it was Green’s decision to go to the locker room; he didn’t banish him. It was, however, Kerr’s call to keep Green out for the entirety of the fourth quarter once he rejoined his teammates on the bench. “I’m never going to quit on my teammates,” Green said. “But it’s also not my decision if I go back in the game or not.” The coach reiterated: “He wasn’t going back in the game.”
By then, Golden State had recovered from its stumble to start the half to claim a 89-83 advantage heading into the fourth. The lead only grew larger from there, in an eerily similar pattern to the Warriors’ win two nights earlier. They were trailing by 10 when Green was tossed and went on to win 119-116. Altogether, the Warriors have outscored their opponents 145-104 in the final 55:10 of the past two games — without their defensive leader and court general.
“There’s a sense of urgency when he’s not out there, because our margin of error goes down without his presence,” said Stephen Curry, who scored 18 of his team-best 26 points after halftime. “Being able to respond like we have these past two games, does it mean anything long-term? I don’t know. But it makes it fun. You have adversity, whether it’s from the other team or some self-inflicted, and you’re able to respond the way that you need to to get a win.”
Curry had not had a chance to speak with Green after the game before he addressed the media, but he echoed the same message when asked if he believed the incident would lead to bigger problems. “I’m pretty sure we know how to be professional,” he said.
Upon returning to the bench, Green was vocal and and engaged, said Brandin Podziemski, who subbed in for him and went on to post a team-high plus-36.
“As a leader, there’s different ways to get the guys around you going,” Podziemski said. “Obviously our record is not what we want it to be. So there’s different ways to motivate a team as a leader. He’s won four championships, so we trust what he does. Tonight, when he came back, he was extremely vocal and positive on the bench for the rest of us.”
Kerr was asked if he believed the incident would linger over the team, as Green himself and others in the organization have acknowledged happened after he punched then-teammate Jordan Poole before the 2022-23 season. “No,” Kerr responded.
Curry, however, couldn’t help but notice the tone of his postgame news conference following a 23-point win. It was their second in a row and improved their record to .500, at 15-15, a position Curry and others deemed “frustrating” but also, Green said, signaled they were trending in the right direction.
“It’s unfortunate … considering where we’ve been, (now) on a two-game win streak, that the vibes of the questions are a little bit more negative than they should be,” Curry said. “I get why you’re asking them, but downstairs right now, the DJ’s got a good playlist going, guys are getting their work in. We’re having a good time because we’re winning.”