Draymond Green lets Warriors win over Magic immediately after heated argument with Steve Kerr: ‘We solved the problem’
Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green left Monday night’s win over the Orlando Magic early after getting into an argument with coach Steve Kerr.
Green and Kerr were seen in a heated argument during a timeout in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 120-97 win over the Magic, though it was unclear what it was about. On the bench, however, there was a lot of animation. At one point, it appeared that Moses Moody tried to intervene and calm Green down, but he later gave up and sat down again.
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Eventually, Green got up from the ground and walked back to the Chase Center locker room.
“Tempers turned and I thought it was best to get out of there,” Green said after the game, via Anthony Slater of ESPN. “I don’t think that was a situation where things were going to get better. So, it was just better to walk away. That’s all.”
Kerr declined to reveal what their argument was actually about, but reiterated that Green leaving the floor was a personal choice. He didn’t send Green to the locker room.
“We went at it, obviously… We talked about it a little bit, and he decided to go back to the locker room to freshen up,” Kerr said. “That’s all I’ll say about it, it’s all private. I have nothing else to add.”
Green returned to the Warriors bench before the end of the game, but never spoke again. He wouldn’t do it, Kerr said.
“Well, he’s gone,” Kerr said plainly. “He went back to the locker room.”
The Greens finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes Monday night. He averaged eight points and six rebounds per game this season, his 14th in the league.
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Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 26 points in the win, which pushed the team to 15-15 on the season. Jimmy Butler added 21 points and Moody finished with 20 points. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, and Desmond Bane added 20 points. They shot just 7-of-27 from the 3-point line as a group, and are now 16-13 on the season.
Although Green is known to have had some heated altercations during his career, he appears to have had a great relationship with Kerr. The Warriors selected Green in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft and he has spent his entire career with the franchise. Kerr took over as the team’s head coach prior to the 2014-15 season, and Green played an integral role in Golden State’s four championships.
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Clearly, Green and Kerr are not on the same page right now. Even though he couldn’t get to the bottom of the matter, it was the game that angered Green.
“Basketball. It’s what we do, we play basketball,” Green said when asked what caused their argument. “It’s an emotional game, people lose their emotions sometimes. It happens, it is what it is.
“We’ve been dealing with this topic for a long time now. So sometimes when you’re around people for a long time, there’s a level of comfort and things happen. Let’s move on.”
Even though the incident was out of the ordinary, both Green and Kerr seem confident they can move forward.
“We need Draymond. He’s a champion,” Kerr said. “We’ve been together a long time… It’s unfortunate what happened, but it happened.”