In a candid interview, Draymond Green praises Steve Kerr for becoming the Warriors’ all‑time winningest head coach, emphasizing Kerr’s uncanny ability to make in‑game adjustments during playoffs and his unflappable demeanor. Green reflects on how both he and Kerr have matured—Kerr from a first‑time coach to a seasoned strategist, Green from a raw rookie to a seasoned leader—highlighting the trust they now share. He draws parallels to other influential mentors like Tom Izzo, noting how Kerr earned his respect through consistent communication and willingness to adapt. The conversation then shifts to Green’s rookie hazing experiences: a lavish team dinner in Denver that left a $18,000 bill on the rookie’s credit card, the financial strain of advances and car expenses, and the veteran‑driven pranks (popcorn in cars, rat‑infested wheels) that tested his patience. Green also recounts a bar incident where a teammate was expelled for not drinking, illustrating the tough‑love culture among veterans. The interview closes with shout‑outs to veteran figures such as Anthony Mason, underscoring the blend of camaraderie, respect, and hard‑earned lessons that define Green’s relationship with his coaches and teammates.
Chapters
Man, another record that was broken. Steve Kerr holds the record for the most wins in Warrior history. You've been there for all of them. Is there a moment that exemplifies his coaching that also represents your relationship with him?
I think just his demeanor, man. Steve always know the right thing to say. He always know the right adjustment to make, especially in a playoff series. I don't think there's anybody in the world that can make adjustments like this dude in a playoff series.
Word.
It's unbelievable, man. Like the only time I've ever seen him not know the adjustment to make ever in a playoff series was against the Lakers a few years ago. The only reason he didn't know what the adjustment to make is that we just didn't have the size to compete with them. Like we just didn't, we didn't have the length. We didn't have—
They just outmatched y'all.
They were just outmatched.
Yeah, y'all were outmatched. Yeah, for sure.
This man always knows the adjustment to make. Yeah, I can go on a tangent about all these other things, but to be in the playoffs and always know the adjustment and never rattle. Like, I don't know how much more— I see coaches in the NBA get rattled every day. This man's never rattled. You know what I'm saying? Like, people don't understand how big that is when you're in a playoff series. We've beat teams because I just watched their coach crumble. You know what I'm saying? And Steve is never rattled, which is always locked in, man. I think those moments right there is what exemplifies him, his coaching. And the bigger the moment, the better he is.
That's for sure.
And there's not many people that you could say that about. The bigger the moment get, the more dialed in he is. The bigger the moment get, the more confident he is. It's like he come alive when the moments gets big, man. There's just not many people that can do that. You see a lot of coaches around this league have great regular seasons and they can never close the deal. The bigger the moment for Steve, the better he is.
Shout out to Steve Kerr, man.
Yeah. And I think my relationship with him, my relationship with him today is better than it's ever been. And I think in large part, we both matured. Like, he matured as a coach, I matured as a player. I had to mature way more than he needed to mature, obviously. But Steve was a first-time coach when he first became my coach.
Right.
So you also go through those roads of growth as well.
You know, I— Yeah.
Our relationship now, A, I know when to shut the hell up. Earlier in my career, I can't say I knew when to shut the— I know when to shut the hell up now. But he did everything he needed to do to gain my trust as a coach. You know, I'm not one of those people who just believe, "Oh, they gave you the title coach, you respect." You know what you doing. Yeah, for sure.
Man, we all been through that, yeah.
Yeah, like he did everything plus more that he needed to do. Tom Izzo was my coach, bro. Like, he did everything plus more that he needed to do. To show me that he was a great coach and that I should believe all the things that he says. And now I don't, I don't have really a question about anything. If I do, I tell him, hey coach, I think this, but I'm definitely gonna try it your way. But if, if I struggle with that or if we struggle with that, maybe we can make this adjustment.
Right.
Whereas opposed to when I'm younger, I'd be like, nah man, I don't think we should do that. We should do it like this.
Yeah.
And it's like, nah, those are two different statements. You know what I'm saying? And so, I've learned a lot, but man, my relationship with him, I just have such a huge appreciation for him. 'Cause he's just taught me so much about winning, man. So much about being a winner in this league. So much about winning at the highest level.
Yeah.
That, you know, my appreciation for Steve at this point in my career is through the roof. And I think, you know, I think his is probably the same for me. We've done it all together. You know, every win he's got, like you said, all of his wins I've been here for. And it's a beautiful thing to watch him dominate as a coach in this league and be one of the all-time greats because that he is.
Shout out to Steve Kerr. Most wins in Warrior history. You know, Steve Kerr did play with a dude named Dennis Rodman, right? And Draymond Green, you are nothing like Dennis Rodman, sir. You feel what I'm saying? So I feel like— For Steve Kerr, having someone like you is, you know, advantageous to him and just reminds him when he was playing how locked in Rodman was. But, you know, having Draymond versus like, you know, Draymond gonna show up, Draymond is gonna do all the right things outside of tackling people and, you know, punching, and punching people. But he ain't no Rodman, you know, to expect, you know, he's a good young man, you know, he comes from a great, comes from a great family and he exudes that in his off the court behavior. You know what I mean? I was raised right.
I always tell people I was raised right now. Don't ever get it twisted. I was raised right. My rookie initiation was as rookies, me, Harrison Festus, and Kent Bazemore. We were at Denver, we were in Denver and we had a team dinner and they were ordering everything, man. Richard Jefferson ordered this big 100-pound porterhouse steak that was to serve 6 people for himself. They were ordering shots. I'm just looking around like, "Dang, these dudes ordering everything. That's dope. They brought us to dinner. That's dope." Yeah. Now mind you, I'm a second round pick, so I ain't had no money. Yeah, I understand. It ain't November 15th. I ain't started getting paid yet. I ain't got no dough. And they like, "Yeah." So at the end of it, they like, "Yeah, so this has been a great dinner. Excited about the opportunity that this team have." "You know, get to the playoffs." At that time we just talking about getting to playoffs. You know, we think we got a chance to get to the playoffs. Young fellas, really appreciate y'all, man. Happy to have y'all here. Y'all gonna bring some winning ways. Also appreciate y'all taking care of this dinner. And all of them walked out. We get the bill, it's $18,000.
Wow.
Kent Bazemore undrafted. I ain't got no dough.
Second round.
And Festus and, and Festus and, And Harrison got some dough. They both got the dough.
He ain't got no money like that on your card though.
Shout out to Eric Hauser, man. Eric Hauser left the team credit card on file for us and took care of it before. I ain't had no dough.
I was screwed. Oh man, I would've been crying.
I had no chance at paying that.
I would've been crying.
$4,500?
Hey, bro, I would've been crying. I would've been crying they did us like that.
Man, I was hot, like $4,500. I don't know what they expect me to do with this, bro. I'm a second round pick. I ain't got no bread. I got my advance on my salary, my advance on my first year salary a month and a half ago, $60,000 advance. I cried. I got $27,000 back after taxes. Didn't know what was going on. I gotta get a car. Which I was renting a car because I couldn't afford to buy a car. So I was renting the car just because they was doing it on credit. I end up owing them $9,000. I could have just put a down payment down on a car. I had to get some furniture for my apartment and I ain't have no dough like that. And they put that bill on us. So shout out to the young fellas, Jalen—
It's bees like that.
Stefan Castle getting his car put on bricks. Kent Baysmore got his car popcorn. And Festus Azili got his car put on bricks. They ain't touch my car. And for good reason, 'cause I told them straight up, listen, I understand y'all the vets, but if y'all do something to my car, I'm the type of guy I'm gonna keep doing it. The more y'all do it—
I'm gonna crash out. So you put popcorn in my car, I'm gonna put rats in your car. Like, and I go too far and I don't know when to stop. I wish Jay Rich was your vet. Oh, I wish Jay Rich was your vet. Hey, Jay Rich used to get 'em, bro. Hey, Jay Rich used to get 'em with the popcorn. He used to take the wheels off and put 'em on different levels of the parking structure.
Yeah.
So you had to walk around and find your tires. Same thing that happened. Jay Rich was cold.
Same thing that happened. Listen, and I told them straight up, listen, man. They like, no, but you ain't got no money. We can keep playing games. I said, listen, I go too far. So I'm just telling y'all, don't do nothing like that. I ain't gonna— Kit has said something wild to Jack. Festus has said something wild to D. Lee. I'm not gonna say anything wild to y'all.
I'm just letting y'all know.
But don't do that to me because I go way too far. And they ain't do that to me. So, you know, shout out to them.
Shout out to the vets. Shout out to the vets. Hey, Anthony Mason kicked me out the— Hey, Dyke, he took the whole team to dinner and kicked me out the dinner. 'Cause I wouldn't drink. Hey bro, hey, hey Draymond Green, you know how you be like, "All right bro, well I ain't paying for your ass to eat. You can get up off the table," right?
Yep.
So I get up off the table. We at the Shark Bar, old school Shark Bar in Atlanta. So I get off the table, I'm like, "Man, I ain't tripping on this nigga. The food ain't come." I go to the bar, right? That nigga go, "No, no, no, no, no, nigga, you gotta go." He put you out the restaurant? Hey, bro. Hey, hey, hey. Like the whole thing, like he was sweating me and I was like, bro, you ain't gonna sweat me like this. Like, I'm cool not drinking. And he got up, he was like, "Mero." I was like, "Bro, I'm cool." He was like, "You can just leave, man." I was like, "All right, cool, bro. I'm gonna go out the bar, let him cool off." I'm thinking like, 'Cause you know how you think like, "Man, is he playing?" Like, nah, he was deadass. Like, "You gonna have a drink and you gonna get your ass up." I said, "Bro, I'm cool, my nigga. Like, you sweating me like this? Like, nah, I'm gonna go to the bar, bro." So everybody was like, "Come on, BD, just have a drink." You know, all that. Nah, I'm cool, dog. I'm hot at this moment. I'm hot. 'Cause he done told me to get up off the table. He ain't paying for me. I pay for my own shit. I go to the bar. Draymond, go sit down at the bar, man. They over there drinking, taking shots. Celebrating. He see me, he said, "Nah, nah." He said, "Nah, nah, you gotta go. You gotta go." Hey, yeah. Hey, bro.
You left?
I walked back to the hotel.
Oh, you don't wanna mess with me.
Hey, I walked back to the hotel, bro. And for the rest of that Summer League, right? All I could say is, man, I can't wait to get back home, bro. I can't wait to move to Charlotte. And he called me when he got to LA. He was like, "Where you at?" I was like, "Man, I'm over here with the homies." He's like, "I'm in LA. I'm at the club." I said, "Say no more. I'll be right there." Hey, I pulled up on him and I had been telling the homies the whole time, like, "Man, I can't believe it." 'Cause you know, you can't, you know, we ain't in contact after that. I was like, "Man, I can't believe this. Like, he got me fucked up." Man, we ran up on Mase, him and his homies. And he was like, "What's up, fool? What's up? Much more, Lil Dogg." He was telling his homies. And dogg, he was like, "Man, what's up with your dudes?" I was like, "Oh man, they thought that we cool." Hey, I was like, "Bro, you can't, I ain't one of them ones like that. I'm kind of like a funny, cool dude, but we can get down. We trying to get down." He was like, "Nah, bro, you my lil bro. What you talking about?" I was like, "All right, dude, I guess that's it." That's how it works, shit.
Wow. So that is your rookie hazing story. Yeah.
Shout out, rest in peace Anthony Mason.
That part.
The big bully, you know what I mean? But I call him the big teddy bear 'cause he was always like, he always let me kick it with him, go to Comedy Stores. But he, bro, if you did not partake in the team endeavors, he was on your ass.
