Warriors coach Steve Kerr got caught on television last season appearing to say, “I’m so f—ing tired of Draymond’s s—.” Green said he was unbothered.
They had been through too much to have their relationship become undone by such a trivial incident.
Green on “All The Smoke:”
Me and Steve used to bump heads a whole lot at first. And it took us a while to realize we’re so similar in a lot of ways. We’ve both got the f—ing fiery passion. We’re both going to do whatever we got to do for the team but can lose it in a f—ing instant.
I was at a point where I’m like, yo, if he say one more thing to me, I’m about to f—ing lose it on him. He didn’t say nothing. I’m dying for him to say something.
He didn’t say a word. He wrote me a four-page letter, bro. To this day, I can’t tell you what the letter said. I read the first f—ing line, and it said, “Draymond, I wanted to write you this letter. I know things are rough right now, and we’re kind of bumping heads right now, and we’re at a standstill, and you’re frustrated, and it’s starting to boil over.” I closed the letter up and threw it away. I said, yo, he know me. He got me figured out, and he took his time to figure me out. I don’t need to see anything else. And we were in Philly. I’ll never forget.
I had the letter for a few days. I didn’t open it.
I opened the letter. I read the first line. I just threw it away. I can’t tell you what the rest of it said. But it was just cool, because I’m like, damn, he figured me out, and he knew I was ready to f—ing lose it. He didn’t say a f—ing word. F—ing chess move, bro. He f—ing wrote me a letter. I can’t argue with a letter.
Golden State was in Philadelphia on Jan. 30, 2016. Green even accurately described that game against the 76ers. He was “selfishly unselfish” in trying to get enough assists for a triple-double (on Kerr’s recommendation). So, it seems Green’s recollection there is accurate.
Nearly a month later, Green had his infamous blowup at Kerr in Oklahoma City. So, apparently this letter didn’t fix everything.
But it might have helped Green and Kerr get past the Oklahoma City incident.
Kerr is so great at the interpersonal aspects of coaching. A former player and intense competitor, Kerr commands respect from and relates to his players. But it goes beyond that. He has such an advanced understanding of his team’s emotional pulse.
That said, I doubt he thought his letter would work if he knew Green would read just a couple lines then pitch it. That’s wild! But I guess Green wanted only his dismay to be acknowledged, and that was enough.
