LOS ANGELES — Amid the Golden State Warriors winning four NBA championships in six Finals appearances, coach Steve Kerr has maintained that the franchise’s dynastic run would have never happened without Draymond Green’s defensive versatility, playmaking and intensity.
Does Kerr hold similar convictions that Green will change his on-court behavior that has led to two of his six career suspensions in the past month?
“I’m confident that he can come out on a better side,” Kerr said before Thursday’s game against the LA Clippers. “I know him. He’s an incredible human being. He’s a very complex human being. In a lot of ways, he’s incredibly loyal, passionate and competitive.
Sometimes that same thing hurts him. Can he find that space to be on the floor and compete and bring it like he does every night and not cross that line? That’s what he has to do, and I believe in him. I think he’s going to be able to do it. But I’m not sitting here saying, ‘In a couple of weeks, we’ll be fine.’ No, that’s not how this works. So he’s got a lot of work ahead.”
The NBA penalized Green with an indefinite suspension on Wednesday for swinging and punching Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic while fighting for post positioning in Tuesday’s game.
That punishment happened less than a month after the NBA suspended Green for five games after carrying Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold as part of an ill-fated attempt to protect teammate Klay Thompson.
After both incidents, the NBA said it determined its punishment partly from “Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
In his 12-year career, Green has received 18 ejections and six suspensions, including missing Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals for exceeding the league’s flagrant-foul points limit. Though they didn’t discipline Green outright for punching former teammate Jordan Poole in a training camp practice last year, the Warriors issued Green a leave of absence for the remainder of training camp.
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Will the NBA’s open-ended suspension finally address Draymond Green’s issues?
“The suspension makes sense. To me, this is about more than basketball. It’s about helping Draymond,” Kerr said. “It’s an opportunity for Draymond to step away and to make a change in his approach and his life. That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s not something you say, ‘Okay, we’re going to do five games and then he’s going to be fine.’ The league did that in five games after the incident with Rudy.
That’s not the answer to pick a number. The answer is to help Draymond – give him the help he needs and give him the opportunity to make a change that will not only help him and help our team, but help him for the rest of his life. This is not just about an outburst on the court. This is about his life.
This is about someone who I believe in and someone who I have known for a decade and who I love for his loyalty and his commitment and his passion and his love for his teammates, friends and family. We’re trying to help that guy. Because the one who grabbed Rudy and choked Rudy and the one who took a wild flail at Jusuf and the one who punched Jordan last year, that’s the guy who has to change.”
Historically, the Warriors’ front office, coaching staff and teammates tried striking a balance between calling for Green to temper his on-court outbursts toward officials, while arguing he needed to maintain his on-court intensity to fuel the team’s physicality, defensive execution and ball movement. The Warriors have often credited those three ingredients for fueling their championship runs.
The Warriors have also stressed they dealt Poole to Washington last summer more because of salary cap ramifications and concerns about his uneven development as opposed to choosing sides following the training-camp fight.
At the time, the Warriors also condemned Green for his punch before granting Poole a four-year, $140 million extension. Nonetheless, the Warriors retained Green this past summer on a four-year, $100 million deal.
At the team’s morning shootaround on Thursday, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. reaffirmed “that we’re committed to him.” He added how the Warriors (10-13) perform in the next 15-20 games will determine if they made a deal leading into the Feb. 5 trade deadline. As far as evaluating Green, though?
“He’s been here a long time. He’s hung a ton of banners and means so much to the organization,” Dunleavy said. “It’s about turning this thing into a positive and getting better. If that happens, it’ll be very good. His play has been terrific. It’s just been his lack of availability that has not been great. We want to make that better.”
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Steve Kerr on Stephen Curry’s leadership with the Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have received scrutiny recently for their continued devotion toward Green through his erratic behavior. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith also attributed Green’s outbursts as a sign of Stephen Curry’s leadership, a criticism Kerr addressed in a defensive and angry tone.
“Steph is as good of a leader as I’ve ever been around,” Steve Kerr said. “The guy is an amazing human being. What he has done in the past decade in leading this team through all of the ups and downs and the turmoil, for anybody to question Steph Curry’s leadership is actually kind of sickening to me.”
Despite the Warriors’ continued support for Green, they have differentiated between Green’s on-court outbursts toward Gobert and Nurkic and his previous ones with officials.
“Everything before that of over a decade of play, what are we talking about, right? We’re talking about getting ejected for yelling at the ref or throwing a ball,” Kerr said. “Look at the past year and what’s happened. It’s clear he needs the opportunity to change. That is what an indefinite suspension gives him the opportunity for.”
Dunleavy confirmed that the team talked with Green, his agent (Rich Paul) and league officials to collaborate on what next steps Green needs to take before returning to play. Though the NBA forbids Green from playing in or attending any future games until further notice, he can practice with the team and individually. Green did not attend the Warriors’ morning shootaround, though.
Though the NBA and the Warriors have not outlined what else Green will do out of respect for his privacy, it appears likely that Green will receive some form of counseling.
“There’s a lot of this that has to happen with people who are experts in this field. I’m not qualified for that,” Kerr said. “My role in this is to support Draymond as best as I can and our organization will also support him and will do everything possible for him. We want to give him the space and the time and the assistance he needs to make a significant change.
The whole key for me is what this can do for his life, long-term. I want him to be happy. I want him to be reap the rewards of an incredible career and legacy. And I want him to finish that career in a really wonderful and dignified manner. This guy is one of the great winners of all time. He’s one of the great competitors of all time. But he’s crossed a line.”
Mark Medina in an NBA insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on X, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.