When one thinks about February 2016, when the Golden State Warriors made their way to OKC to take on the Thunder, that one iconic Mike Breen call pops up in everyone’s mind: “They do have a timeout, decide not to use it. Curry from way downtown. Bang! Bang! Oh, what a shot from Curry!”
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While that game got immortalized for being the night Stephen Curry got the very first Double Bang, there was a lot more going on behind the curtains. On the most recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, Draymond was asked about the 2016 regular-season game against OKC.
“Man, that game was crazy, man. Me and Steve had the worst argument ever at halftime,” Green started recalling. He explained how Steve Kerr had missed 43 games that season due to complications from multiple back surgeries.
When Kerr was out, Luke Walton had given Green a lot more freedom offensively, leading him to start off the year averaging 14.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in the 43 games without Kerr. As soon as Kerr came back, Draymond’s scoring lowered, with him averaging 11.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in the 16 games leading to the OKC contest.
This had led to some tension bubbling from both sides. “When he came back, I felt like my production dipped. And so I was just frustrated as hell, frustrated as hell. And it was just kind of boiling. He was frustrated with me, I was frustrated with him,” Green said.
Things quickly escalated at halftime, when Green, who thought he had a solid first half, with six rebounds, six assists, and two steals, was called out by Kerr for two shots that he’d taken. “I think I had nine rebounds and eight assists at halftime or something like that. Two steals, two blocks, but I had zero points. And I was over two from the field, and the two shots that I took was like top of the key threes.”
Steve Kerr, being the coach he is, nitpicked on the shots Green had taken as the Warriors trailed 57-46 at halftime. “Steve showed both of the shots on film. Like, Draymond, we can get better shots than this. I’m like, really?… I really lost it. All right, man. And he’s like, what, Draymond? And he started going crazy at me. I started going crazy at him.”
Green recalled how Steve Kerr told him he was done for the night, “And I took my shoes off. I threw them like, all right. Then I put my shoes back on. Like, hell no, I’m playing.” And it was a wise decision that Green kept playing. He finished the night with 14 rebounds, 14 assists, six steals, and four blocks.
However, one of the unfortunate parts about that night was how Lisa Salters was outside the Warriors locker room and reported the entire ordeal on National TV, something that Green has since forgiven Salters for.
Lisa Salters’ Report About the Half-Time Incident
Lisa Salters, one of the most respected sideline reporters in the industry, was part of the team covering the Warriors-Thunder contest back in 2016. It was a nationally televised game being aired on ABC. During a time-out in the third quarter, Salters reported on the half-time commotion coming out of the Warriors’ locker room.
“One of the players went on a profanity-laced tirade. I did not hear what precipitated it, but he was yelling so loudly that I could hear everything that he was saying… I think that it was Draymond Green… He was yelling and screaming, “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.” At one point, people were trying to get him to sit down, from what I could hear, and he was daring people, threatening people, “come sit me down.” It then got very quiet, guys came out of the locker room.”
In a later report, it was claimed that police almost had to intervene to keep the peace in the Warriors’ locker room.
It was a situation that went beyond the confines of that one particular night, as reported by a former Warriors player. In the end, the Warriors fined Green for his outburst, and tensions simmered through the remainder of the season, right till the 3–1 collapse to the Cavaliers. Green and Kerr have come a long way since, having won three more championships and made history together.
