Draymond Green isn’t one to let silence linger, a trait that makes him the emotional leader for the Warriors and one of the NBA’s most interesting commentators among current players.
On the media circuit, Green has been breaking down the playoffs, recalling the Warriors’ good old days and, yes, weighing in on his coach’s pending decision on whether to continue coaching Golden State.
Green, the four-time champion with the Warriors and former defensive player of the year, first made waves when he said in an April 20 episode of his “Draymond Green Show” podcast that he felt his moment with coach Steve Kerr at the end of the Warriors’ play-in tournament loss to Phoenix was a goodbye.
Over the last week, he shared more about his relationship with Kerr, who is not under contract for next season and is weighing whether to walk away from the team.
The tidbit that drew the most attention from the basketball world was his admission that at least part of him feels Kerr “hindered” his career by focusing his coaching of Green almost entirely on the defensive end.
“When I think of who I was offensively as a player and who I became, I think a part of that is due to him. I don’t hold that against him,” Green said, noting that the Warriors’ playbook has not included a set play for him since 2016. “I’m forever grateful that he still put me in a position to be successful and that I could become Draymond Green despite my offensive role on our team.”
Green, 36, was responding to a wide-ranging New Yorker interview with Kerr in which the coach said of Green: “There’s things he’s done that I can never forgive him for, and yet I will do anything for him.”
There’s no doubt Green’s intensity can cut both ways: He has proven over the last 14 years with the Warriors that his energy can drive the team to a new level of competitiveness and, alternately, cross the line into a detriment in the form of an ejection. That same forcefulness is apparent in how he speaks publicly.
By now, Kerr is plenty familiar with the give-and-take that comes with coaching all-world players like Green and Steph Curry. When it comes to Green, radical honesty is part of the deal, including in public.
Later in the week, Green went on the “Post Moves” podcast with two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker and Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and admitted “a part of this era ended when Klay (Thompson) left” in the summer of 2024, when he signed a free-agent deal with Dallas. He pointed to the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs as teams that split apart shortly after their final championship.
The Warriors are in a different situation with their trio of Kerr, Green, and Curry. Both players are under contract through next year, whether Kerr comes back or not. Green has a $27.7 million player option, according to Spotrac.com.
“As long as all of us can stay real with where we are in this, then the partnership remains great,” Green said before mentioning Kerr’s comment earlier in the season about the Warriors being a fading dynasty. “The reason I can come out on my podcast and talk about Steve’s comments and why he’s right is because we’re all realistic with ourselves — but we’ve always been the entire time.”
While Green called the Warriors’ ownership group, led by Joe Lacob, the NBA’s best, it’s clear there is pressure on Kerr and the Golden State front office to keep that energy up as they determine whether to stick together for another season.