SAN FRANCISCO — In a fairly remarkable 15-minute media session Wednesday, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr both took responsibility for his argument with Draymond Green that caused the forward to leave the bench in the middle of a timeout during the third quarter of Monday’s win against the Orlando Magic and said his goal remains for Green to retire as a Warrior.
“Monday night was not my finest hour and that was a time I needed to be calm in the huddle,” Kerr said after Golden State’s practice here at Chase Center Wednesday afternoon, about 24 hours before the Warriors will take on the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas Day. “I regret my actions in that exchange. I apologized to [Green], he apologized to me. We both apologized to the team.
“These things, they happen — especially when you get two incredibly competitive people like Dray and me. So, over the 12 years we’ve been together, this has happened occasionally and I’m not proud of it.”
After much of the discussion following Monday’s win over the Magic revolved around Green’s decision to leave the bench and retreat to the locker room following his argument on the bench with Kerr, only to eventually return to the bench and sit there for the fourth quarter as Golden State moved back to .500 with a win, Wednesday was clearly about Kerr trying to move the franchise forward from the incident.
He spent most of his time on the podium reflecting on his partnership with Green, which dates back to when Kerr took over as head coach in 2014, and even said several times how similar the two men are.
“There’s a long history of that here because we understand each other and I understand his power. There are four banners out there and obviously a lot of people played important roles in that, but I’ve said this before and I truly believe it: I don’t think we have any without him,” Kerr said. “That’s how much he impacts winning. So his ability to channel that passion, that emotion, that raw rage that he has is a key component to what makes us successful. And what I said about the other night, I didn’t channel my own raw emotion and rage, of which there is plenty.
“We are far more alike than anyone would ever realize. So yeah, this is not totally uncommon. I would say this hasn’t happened in a few years, this kind of a divide and a blow up, but in our 12 years together, it’s not the first time. And we’ve always, always found a way to not only bounce back, but to make strides as a result.”
He also repeatedly stated his desire for Green to finish his career with the Warriors — in a way that Klay Thompson, for example, who will be playing on the Mavericks Thursday, obviously did not.
“We had a great chat,” Kerr said. “I care so much about Draymond and the relationship we have is like family. And like family, you go through ups and downs.
“My number one goal, honestly, is for him to finish his career as a Warrior with us fighting metaphorically, not literally, but fighting and competing together until we’re both gone. And I believe that’s going to happen. Because I believe in Draymond and I believe in myself and I believe in everything we’ve built for 12 years.”
As Kerr alluded to, this is far from the first time the two men have had an issue with one another. The most famous, perhaps, was in 2016, when Green and Kerr got into a very heated argument in the visiting locker room during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Golden State’s record-setting 73-9 season.
What’s different, though, is something else that Kerr acknowledged: the time for this version of the Warriors, the Kerr-Green-Stephen Curry triumvirate that has powered the franchise to four championships, and made this one of the most recognizable groups in NBA history, is drawing to a close.
Golden State finds itself at 15-15 through more than a third of the season, and already five losses back of the sixth-place Houston Rockets to climb out of the play-in picture in the Western Conference. Green, meanwhile, is the only player this season who has played at least 250 minutes and has more turnovers (75) and fouls (80) than made field goals (72).
And while Kerr said he believes this team can do what it did last year, when it closed the season with a 21-7 run after being 27-27 to make the playoffs and eventually lose in the second round of the playoffs, he acknowledged the reality that Golden State is “a fading dynasty.”
“Where we are as a team, as an organization, the most important thing for me is for guys to recognize that there’s beauty in the struggle,” Kerr said. “There’s beauty in what we’re trying to accomplish right now.
“We are no longer the ’17 Warriors, you know, dominating the league. We are a fading dynasty. We know that. Everybody knows that. So what is up to us is, ‘How do we carry ourselves night to night? How connected are we? And can we give ourselves another swing at the plate?’ We did that last year. I was really proud of the team last year
“We gave ourselves a chance, and that’s the goal here. We know where we are. We’ve got to know who we are. We’ve got to know what’s possible, and we have to take pride in the struggle, because this is part of life.”
It’s a life that’s seen Kerr, Green and the Warriors go through so much over the past decade-plus they’ve spent together. This dynastic run for the Warriors has seen Golden State move ahead of everyone but the Boston Celtics (18) and Los Angeles Lakers (17) in all-time NBA championships. Curry has established himself as one of the greatest players of all-time, while Kerr — and all but certainly Green — will also one day join him in the Hall of Fame.
Kerr said Wednesday that none of those four championships would’ve happened without Green, and his singular set of skills that have made him one of the more unique players in recent NBA history.
“One of the things I love about Draymond is his loyalty,” Kerr said. “He’s a loyal guy. He’s loyal to the Warriors. He’s loyal to me. He’s loyal to Steph. He wants to be here his whole career. I want nothing more than that.
“I love Draymond. I love everything he’s meant to me and to the organization and the Bay. And he’s a complicated guy. He will be the first to admit that. He’s very complex. But he is undyingly loyal and passionate. And I will go to bat for him as long as I’m coaching him here. And honestly, I would go to bat for him 20 years from now when we haven’t been together because that’s how strongly I feel about him. And that’s how I want this thing to end with us, whenever that is.”