More on Kerr-Green Dynamic
And Kerr was almost as non-communicative at his post-game presser when asked why Green played so little in a game that competitive until midway through the fourth quarter. āIt just wasnāt his night,ā Kerr said tersely.
Iāve been in the Warriorsā locker room hundreds if not thousands of times, after horrible games and great games and middling games, and this was one of the more uncomfortable moods in there Iāve encountered. The main guess is that there are some edgy feelings between Draymond and Kerr, possibly tied to Draymondās listless play throughout the game and Kerrās reaction to it.
As the Warriors nursed a two-point lead, Kevin Durant missed a three from the top of the arc. Draymond Green, upset that his team hadnāt executed a Durant-Curry pick-and-roll on that crucial play, tore into Durant after the ensuing timeout. It left many to wonder: Was this a sign of something bigger? Is there internal turmoil? Head coach Steve Kerr, for his part, viewed the interaction as a positive.
āIt was just good communication between two teammates who are passionate and trying to figure something out together,ā Kerr said after practice Saturday. āKevin didnāt take anything personally, and I thought Draymond handled it really well. We had a good film session, a good meeting today where guys talked about different things. Itās all part of the process.ā
Anthony Slater: Steve Kerr displeased about the Draymond rim hang technical, then jokes "used to happen to me all the time" pic.twitter.com/KjqtLKPqJd
IT'S FEB. 27 in Oklahoma City, during halftime of a nationally televised game, and Green is losing his holy mind. Inside the visitors locker room, he's hollering "I am not a robot!" at Kerr. When Kerr tells him to sit down, Green screams, "Motherf---er, come sit me down!" When he goes after Kerr, his teammates, including Curry and Thompson, step in to stave off disaster. Minutes later, in her report following halftime, ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters will recite a portion of Green's explosion: "I am not a robot! I know I can play! You have me messed up right now! If you don't want me to shoot, I won't shoot the rest of the game!" "I'm standing outside the locker room with the Oklahoma City police, which are always stationed outside of every locker room," Salters will later recall. "They kind of moved me aside, and the officer just kind of stood by the door, with his hand on his weapon like he was trying to determine what he should do. It was clear that something bad was about to happen in this locker room. We've never heard anything like this before."
Publicly, the Warriors downplay the incident. At the next practice, Kerr says, "It's the NBA. Every team I've ever been on has had stuff like this. Every team. Championship teams or not, it happens. It's 15 alpha males in a room trying to compete, money on the line and prestige and trophies and competition. This is being so overblown." Privately, according to sources close to the team, Green's teammates respond by voting to fine him. (When asked a week later about the fine, a livid Green would insist, "I asked to be fined. You can report that!") Green also does not take kindly to the coverage of his outburst, which leads to the Warriors brokering a sit-down between him and Salters. Salters recalls telling him, "What kind of bothered me about it was hearing the pain that was in your voice -- you weren't just mad, you were in pain, emotional pain."
