SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors coach Steve Kerr had his player’s back on Wednesday afternoon.
Kerr declined to put the blame on Draymond Green for the mid-game argument between the two that led to Green leaving the bench and not returning to the game during the Warriors’ victory over the Magic on Monday.
In fact, Kerr went a step further than just supporting Green.
“Monday night was not my finest hour, and that was a time I needed to be calm in the huddle,” Kerr said. “So I regret my actions in that exchange. I apologized to Dray, and he apologized to me. We both apologized to the team.”
Kerr said Green will face no fine or suspension by the team, which is facing the Mavericks on Christmas.
“We had a great chat. I’m not going to share the details, but I can tell you this: I’m expecting the very best version of Draymond tomorrow,” Kerr said. “I know exactly who he is. He’s a winner, he’s a champion. He’s the most passionate, competitive person I’ve ever met, and that can get the best of him, and it can get the best of me, and that’s what happened.”
The coach characterized the relationship, which has gone through its ups and downs during an 11-year partnership, as being familial at this point. Kerr said Green’s loyalty to the team and its best player, Steph Curry, is beyond reproach, and that he “loves” Green.
The Warriors did not make Green available Wednesday, but he said after Monday’s game that confrontations are bound to happen in sports.
“It’s an emotional game. People lose their emotions sometimes,” Green said. “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 believes that he and Green share more similarities than most would expect, as each man is supremely competitive. He called that passion one of the reasons the Warriors have won four titles during their time together, and that he hopes Green will retire a Warrior.
“He’s a complicated guy. He will be the first to admit that he’s very complex, but he is undyingly loyal and passionate,” Kerr said. “And I will, 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, you know, haven’t been together because that’s how strongly I feel about him, and that’s how, how I want this thing to end with us, whenever that is.”
Kerr acknowledged that the team has come to grips with the fact that it is no longer the unstoppable juggernaut of the 2010s, calling the squad a “fading dynasty” that has to fight for wins it would once cruise to.
Part of that has to do with a shifting roster. An obvious decline in 35-year-old Green’s skills is another culprit. The aging forward has even offered to come off the bench, something he briefly did last year for Jonathan Kuminga.
Kerr swiftly squashed that idea.
“That’s not even a consideration for me right now, because I’m really excited about this starting lineup. Steph, Draymond, Moses (Moody), (Quinten Post), Jimmy (Butler),” Kerr said. “I think it’s a great starting lineup for us, because we get the size and shooting of Quentin next to Dre, which takes the pressure off of him. And Dray is at his best next to Steph. He should play most of his minutes with Steph.”
So in the end, not much appears to have changed. Green remains in the starting lineup, and Kerr has already shifted his focus to the future.
“In our 12 years together, that’s not the first time (we have argued), and we’ve always, always found a way to not only bounce back, but to make strides as a result,” Kerr said.
Horford should return
The Warriors’ frontcourt is expected to receive a boost on Christmas Day as center Al Horford is expected to play against the Mavericks, per Kerr.
Horford, 39, has missed the past seven games with sciatica and has only played in 13 games total. The 39-year-old has primarily come off the bench, and his usually dependable shot has yet to come around. Horford is shooting 29.8% from behind the arc.
