In this interview, Draymond Green breaks down Steve Kerr’s recent remarks about Jonathan Kuminga’s fit on the Golden State Warriors roster. Green explains that Kerr’s comment—that Kuminga may not be able to play 38 minutes alongside the current core (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Green himself)—is about roster composition, not Kuminga’s talent. Green questions the certainty of that assessment, noting the team hasn’t seen Kuminga in that role yet. He stresses Kerr’s authority and track record (four championships, Olympic gold) and advises Kuminga to avoid a public response before free agency, arguing that any comment could backfire. Green also touches on the broader context of free agency, restricted status, and the need for Kuminga to position himself for the best opportunity. The conversation then shifts to a brief sports‑trivia interlude about Tyrese Halliburton’s clutch field‑goal record, followed by a nostalgic personal anecdote where Green recounts his childhood experience singing in a church choir at age seven, wearing a red Maryland Terrapins jersey for Easter, and the humorous fallout from his performance.
Chapters
And also, speaking of Steve comments, I know there's a big fuss about, uh, his statement on Jonathan Kuminga yesterday. And for our fans out there that haven't seen the statement, I'll give you some context. Uh, I think he was on with Tim Kawakami, and they were talking about JK, and Steve's answer was, it's a tricky one because Jonathan obviously is gifted and wants to play a bigger role and wants to play more. And for me, I've been asked to win. And right now he's not a guy who I can say I'm going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have— Steph, Jimmy, and Draymond Green— and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win. And so I think, you know, when I look at that statement, uh, I think I, I take a couple things away from that statement. Uh, one being he said, with this roster that we have, I'm not sure. He didn't say that Jonathan Kuminga can't play 38 minutes anywhere and be a successful player and be an impactful player and possibly reach his promise. That's not what he said. He said, with this roster, I don't see how that piece fits. Now, do I agree with that? I don't know. I don't know that I necessarily agree because you just haven't seen it. Yeah. And so I'm not of the mindset that something just doesn't work that you haven't had the chance to see much of. But in saying, but also in saying that, I think when you look at Steve, one thing that he's shown as a coach is he gonna make the decision that he think is best regardless of what it comes with. We're talking about the same man, the same legend that didn't play Jason Tatum in the Olympics and dealt with—
Yeah.
All flat that came with that. But at the end, to his point, his ultimate goal is to win. And they won the gold medal. And, and that's what he set out to do. So here, I understand what he's saying. I'm, I'm not, I don't necessarily agree because we just haven't seen it and seen much of it. So to, to actually know if it does work, but If you JK, you gotta make the best decision for you. You gotta try to put yourself in the best position that you can possibly put yourself in. And so I wouldn't get caught up into Steve said this or Steve said that. I think if you're Jonathan Kuminga in this moment, Steve Kerr is Steve Kerr. He's a legend. He will be a Hall of Famer. These are just the facts. And so in saying that, I'm not sure it's worth getting caught up into the, man, he said this, my next interview, whenever that may be, I need to respond. Quite frankly, I don't think JK should have a next interview until after free agency because for what? And I think in this position where JK has to be careful, is Steve Kerr is the legend. Steve Kerr is one of the greatest coaches we've seen. JK can only lose here. Like he can say something back, it could be the wrong thing, but he can only lose here. He has nothing to gain from trying to say something back, trying to respond to that, and he can only lose and hurt himself here. So don't say nothing. Like free agency is happening. You gotta go into free agency, whether that's, you know, he's a restricted free agent. You gotta figure out what's gonna work for you. And that's gonna happen anyway. So I would just say, man, Steve, Steve, Steve gonna believe what he believe. And his beliefs has worked. He won 4 championships. So not gonna sit here and argue or go back and forth about his beliefs. And I don't think J.K. should either. But at the same time, if I'm J.K. and I'm in them shoes, I heard it, I need to move accordingly, figure out what's for me. But Steve, sit here and question him why? He got 4 championships. And when, and I'll remind you, last time I said that to him, I said, wow, Coach, we got 4 of them things. Yeah. He said, "I ain't got 4, I got 9. You got 4." So that man know how to win. And there's no point of sitting here trying to question what he knows. It's been proven that he knows how to win. He knows what it takes to win. I think J.K. is gonna be a great player. Whether he show that with the Warriors or show that somewhere else, that's on him to figure that out and his team to figure that out. But— What's been proven is Steve Kerr know how to win and JK is an incredible talent. Those things are mutually exclusive. Both things can be true and they cannot work together. And that happens in this league all the time. It is what it is. I wouldn't make too much of it. I don't think he should make too much of it. I know Steve won't make too much of it. I don't, I think JK, you heard it. It is what it is. I'm not sure. That him saying that in words is any different than A, any conversation he's had with J.K., or B, what you kind of thought anyway. So it's been said in words, it's been put in front of you, but I don't think it's really much different than what you already thought. It just put it in words. So moving on, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Free agency is happening. You gotta figure that out. You gotta navigate.
Yeah.
In passing.
Tyrese Halliburton made 4 game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the final 5 seconds of the 4th quarter. That's 3rd behind Reggie Miller with 5 and LeBron James with 8 since 1997, the year I graduated from high school. You weren't even born yet, bro.
That's crazy. Don't do me like that. I was 7. You was a young junior deacon. You feel me? Yeah, absolutely. I was 7. Exactly. Still in Sunday school every Sunday. Didn't go to church.
Exactly.
You know what I'm saying? For sure. I was still in church choir at that age. You better believe it. Me too, bro. You know what I'm saying? You have to. I got out the church choir, BD. We was singing, you know, Kirk Franklin, "There's a Man." "Standin'." I had the first part. "There's a man standin'." And I was almost talking it. And my family talked about me so bad. They said I said, "There's a man." Ooh, yeah. And that was the end of my choir days when they talked about how I let out with the song. But yeah, bro, I was 7 at that time. That's crazy though. We gotta put you at the alto. We gotta put you in the back, the alto. They had me the leadoff batter. I set the tone. It wasn't a good tone. He was done. He was done after that. I remember my outfit though. It was for Easter Sunday. I had some new black jeans my mom had bought me and a red number 1 Maryland Terrapins jersey. I don't know why. It was a football jersey.
At church?
Yeah, bro. We ain't had no money like that. I ain't had no extra outfit. I had to wear that shit to school. I had to wear that outfit to school on Monday.
Damn.
I had to wear that outfit to school on Monday, BD. Damn. Damn. That was my Easter.
Yeah.
That was my Easter Sunday outfit. And the last name on the back of the number 1 Maryland Terrapin jersey, it just said Terrapins. That was— So that was my choir days, '97. That's what I had going on, baby. That's so killer.
