Warriors’ Steve Kerr Fires Back at Draymond Green’s Critics

Veteran Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is tired of critics blaming Draymond Green for the team’s ongoing three-game losing streak.

Green made a costly mistake in Tuesday’s 130-124 OT loss to the Chicago Bulls when he fouled Jalen Smith with the Warriors up 118-116 and 1.4 seconds left in regulation. Smith made both free throws before the Bulls secured the win in overtime.

“[Draymond] knows he can’t foul in that situation,” Kerr admitted in a chat with 95.7’s “The Game” on Thursday, but proceeded to defend his longtime defensive anchor.

“He knows he made a mistake and it happens. Going forward, I still trust him. He’s Draymond Green. The guy’s won a million games for us and he knows what he’s doing.”

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Draymond Green’s Role Has Changed

Green only played 29 minutes in Tuesday’s loss, continuing a recent pattern, as Kerr has favored different lineups to improve Golden State’s shooting in Stephen Curry’s absence. The Warriors head coach confirmed that Green was no longer a lock to be in lineups at the end of games — an unfathomable scenario even until last season.

“It’s literally game to game who’s going to finish,” Kerr said of his closing lineups. “You saw last night we went away from Draymond and Brandin [Podziemski].

“We’re gonna stay with whatever group is working. That may or may not involve Draymond. This is obviously very different to what we’ve done for the last 12 years. But given where we are — being without Steph [Curry] and Jimmy [Butler] — we have to think more about scoring and who’s going to take on the offensive burden.

“We just have to ride with whoever is hot,” added Kerr.

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Draymond Green, a Liability?

Further to Kerr’s point, Green was inserted late into Tuesday’s game primarily for defensive purposes. However, he ironically made the mistake that led to a loss.

Green was similarly blamed for two late mistakes in Golden State’s previous two losses against the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder. In Monday’s 119-116 loss to the Jazz, Green was late to close out on Blake Hinson’s three, which gave the home team a 116-113 cushion with 29.2 seconds left in the game. Then, during last Saturday’s 104-97 loss to OKC, Green did not offer much resistance to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who rose for a stepback three that gave the Thunder a 102-97 lead with 42.4 seconds left.

Some analysts have argued that Green is no longer the defensive force he was during his prime years, thus becoming a liability for the Warriors because of his limited offensive production. Amid the criticism, Green has been widely rumored to be a trade candidate this offseason, when he can exercise his $27M player option for next year.

Green recently sent a strong message to Warriors fans who want him traded.

“To the real Warriors fans who don’t feel that way, thank you,” Green said on the “Unguarded” podcast.

“To the ones who do feel that way, you were a loser before I got here. A [expletive] stone cold forever losers! If you say that, it makes sense to me. You never been here.”

Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan