After winning the 2022 championship, things didn’t start quite well for Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors this past season. Of course, his punch has become infamous by now. And as the season grew on, his insistence on getting a technical foul over nothing didn’t help either. More than anything else though, the discord within the Warriors stemmed from Green’s distaste of Jordan Poole’s massive paycheck that came before his extension. And only making things worse was the fact that GM Bob Myers didn’t rule out the possibility that the 4x Champ won’t be re-signed. But despite all of this, Steve Kerr recently brought calm to that storm, saying that the Dubs wouldn’t be contenders without Green.
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The Warriors’ season started in the wrong direction after Green punched Poole during a pre-season practice session and ended after the Los Angeles Lakers beat them in 6 games in the second round of the Playoffs. But Kerr wants Draymond back to be a contender.
“If Draymond is not back, we’re not a championship contender,” said Steve Kerr, talking about his point forward who has helped them win 4 championships. “We know that. He’s that important to winning and to who we are.”
No matter how fraught a locker room gets, Steve Kerr has always known what to say. And sure enough, Draymond Green couldn’t have been more thankful for what he said.
Draymond Green is thankful to Steve Kerr for his recent comments
The coach did not hold back in expressing his desire to get Draymond back, who will have a $27.6 million player option for the next season.
This made the 2017 DPOY quite emotional. Watch him in his interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith following coach Kerr’s comments.
“I’m thankful he put that out there that way”
Green has also previously emphasized that he wants to run it back with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson with all his heart. However, there will be many teams who could offer the 33-year-old a big contract, which the Warriors might not.
The Draymond Green Jordan Poole situation has to be dealt with first if the Warriors do run it back
If you watched the full interview, Kerr also didn’t hesitate in calling Green out, saying, his punch to Jordan Poole before the start of the regular season had set the wrong tone for things to come throughout the seasons for the Dubs.
That Green has got to make up for it and earn the respect back that he had built over the years and be a leader once again because every Warrior wants him back.
However, Poole might not agree with the latter part. According to The Ringer, JP said that Green and his relationship throughout the season was purely “business”, that is basketball, and nothing else.
“I don’t have no answer for you. It’s just been business. It’s been basketball,” Poole said on his relationship with Green.
So, as much as Kerr and Green want to run it back, nothing can be amended if Poole is not on the same page. Let’s just hope they are all there before the free agency.
