Draymond Green recently made headlines yet again for something aside from his performance on the basketball court. The former Defensive Player of the Year faced scrutiny following his heated altercation with head coach Steve Kerr. He has remained quite tame in his stance regarding the entire ordeal. Now that a week has passed, Green has finally addressed the situation head-on.
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The incident took place on Monday, December 22, against the Orlando Magic. Kerr called a timeout during the third quarter. He went on to confront Green. They would continue to go back and forth until Green inexplicably got up from the bench and headed straight to the locker room.
Green returned to the bench at the start of the 4th quarter, but Kerr refused to put him back in the game for the final minutes. The Warriors went on to secure the win, which helped shelter the situation from escalating even further. However, people remain curious about what happened between the two.
Kerr spoke at length about his entire relationship with Dramyond in his post-game presser, but didn’t address the incident in detail. In Green’s recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, he addressed the matter directly.
“We agreed in the moment [if Kerr] takes me out, I’m removing myself from the moment,” Green revealed. “I left the bench because I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Many people ran with the narrative that Green threw a temper tantrum and decided to leave. The reality of the situation, according to Green, is that he kept the team in mind every step of the way. He didn’t want to bring the team down due to the headspace that he was in at that moment.
“I think the best thing for human beings is to remove yourself from the heated situation, for the sake of the team. Contrary to the popular talking heads, it was the right thing to do,” Green added.
The Warriors did go on to win, which certainly favors Green’s comments. In the past, Green would’ve lost his cool as he stormed off the court. The footage does show that Green kept himself composed while exiting the court. Not only did it avoid further causing a scene and diverting the team’s focus from the game, but it also prevented anything from happening that would’ve fractured the relationship between Green, Kerr, and the team.
Whether you like Green or not, he handled the situation to the best of his abilities. It may not be the popular decision, but it is certainly the truth.
