Draymond Green says he doesn't want to play for another team despite the Warriors' disappointing season and injuries to Curry and Moody. With a $27 million player option, he emphasizes partnership with Golden State while questioning the team's direction and Steve Kerr's future. Green clarifies past criticism of Kerr, crediting him for making him a smarter player.
Chapters
Welcome back to NBA Tip-Off here on ESPN. It's brought to you by AT&T. End of the road for the Warriors this year in the, in the play-in. And you see some of the facts and figures. Second fewest wins, 37 under Steve Kerr from 2014 on. And Draymond Green with a player option.
$27 million. That's a nice option. Yeah.
That ain't half bad, Kenny.
You gonna take that?
I mean, I don't wanna leave it.
Excellent answer.
You just thinking about it.
I'll leave it. The date not here yet to decide.
Hey, so we want to spend a few minutes just talking to you about what's going on in your life and your career and 14 years in the league, all with the same team. And then I saw at the end of the game, you and Steph and Steve, in a group hug there. What was that? What was that about? What thoughts were going through your mind as this season ended?
Well, Steve grabbed both of us and he said, yo, I just wanted to take this moment. Like, I just don't know, you know, I don't know if we'll have this moment again. So I just wanna take this moment and thank you guys, you know? And it was a special moment. The first thing Travis said when we walked off was like, man, I'm so happy Steve was in the moment. Like, and he didn't miss that moment. But like going down the stretch, you can't, you can't help but think like, is this it? Is this the end, right? Like, I have an option, as you see. If they don't want me back, I'm not just gonna take the option. Like, this has always been a partnership, right? You want me, I want you, it works out. And so I do think they want me back, but I'm just saying it with Steve, you know, he's coaching on the last year of a contract. Does he come back? What does that look like? And so it was weird down the stretch because you're kind of feeling this pressure of like, yo, we need to win to kind of stabilize things. But yet you got Jimmy Butler out with a knee injury, you got Moses Moody out with a knee injury, you got Steph Curry out with a knee injury, and we're just free-falling pretty much from All-Star break on.
Could you see yourself in another uniform?
I mean, I don't want to. I got— I— it's not something I've imagined over the last few years of my career. Early on in your career, you're kind of like, when is this going to come to an end, you know? Like, I've been here long enough. You look at the stats, guys don't stay that long. Then your mindset kind of shifts. Like, can I make this a forever thing? Can I stretch this the length of my career? When I signed my last deal, that became a realistic possibility. And so for me, no, I don't, I don't see myself in another uniform, but I am also understanding of this business and know that it takes them to want me as much as I want them in order for it to continue.
But the grass ain't always greener. Yep. And sometimes it is, but a lot of times it isn't because especially coming from a championship pedigree. And the worst-case scenario for me, after winning 2 championships in Houston, you have a championship thought and a culture, and then you go to teams that are just getting by. And you walk in the locker room and you know right away, like, this is a joke and this is not it. This is— they're not trying to win. They don't even know how to win. They're guessing and throwing darts at the ball board. And then if you say something, and I know you would say something, you look like the outsider, man. When I left, I was— Les Houston, I was like, this is not it, brother. It's not.
And I've heard that from everyone, you know, and I've heard that the entirety of my career, you know, like having veterans like Jermaine O'Neal, like a Jared Jack, you know, like, um, Karl Landry, Richard Jefferson, Shawn Livingston, all of those guys, David West, they come in and be like, yo, this ain't the real NBA. That's the word. They were coming.
And I'll say this, and I'll let you talk, Charles, too, but the one thing that I used to always say is, this is not the real NBA. And you know what the first time in my life I felt like I was playing for? A check. First time ever.
Well, it's over for the Warriors.
There you go.
I mean, no disrespect.
But disrespect is—
No, no, no disrespect.
Disrespect.
It ends for every old team. You have your run, you get old, y'all let Klay go. You and Steph on the backside of y'all careers. It just passed you by. Y'all had one of the greatest runs ever. If you think you're not, You didn't— you're not in the playoffs. You're not going to make— you think you're going to get healthier for next year? You're just going to get older. That's no disrespect. You guys have one of the greatest runs of all time. If you want to compete, you're going to have to leave there. If Steph wants to compete, he's going to have to leave there. You're going to have to make that decision.
What if they bring the right pieces in?
They can't bring the right pieces because they don't have no cap space.
Okay.
They don't have any cap space. You believe this?
Do you believe that? Do you believe what he's talking over here?
Well, here's what I would say. We had to hug for a reason, right? Like we're not—
'Cause it's over.
We're not oblivious.
Yeah, yeah.
So like, this could be the end.
It leaves, that's the thing that makes me laugh. It ended for Larry Bird Celtics. It ended for Isiah Thomas Pistons. It ended for Michael Jordan Bulls, The Last Dance.
Absolutely.
It ended for Tim Duncan and Parker in Genoa. It always ends. Sports— listen, sports are for young people. You hope to have a great long career, but sports— nobody wins when they're 37, 38.
But you said what you said. I want to hear if he believes what you're talking.
Yeah, I mean, I think the goal is just to not look like you in the Houston Rockets uniform.
Yeah.
Is ultimately the goal for us. Like, we don't want to—
What does that look like? Did you see it?
I'm just asking. I saw it. I mean, so, you know, we— we're always gonna try to compete. When you win championships, the goal will always be to try to reach that level. Can we get back to that level? Listen, to your point, Jimmy's gonna miss a lot of next year. Moses is gonna miss a lot of next year. That's $70 million. $75 million of a, what, $160 million payroll. So it's gonna be tough. But make no mistake about it, the goal will always be to compete at a championship standard level. Whether we win a championship or not, I think as you get older, you have to redefine what's success, right? Still the most sellouts in the NBA. Still the most national TV games in the NBA. And you just wanna give yourself a chance. Success may not be for us at this point a championship, right? That's just what— that's the way it goes. And so I think understanding what is success at this point is key for us. Knowing and understanding that it may not be realistic to win a championship, but can we continue to build to that so that once we leave this organization, it's still in a great space of where they have that pedigree and they can try to build on that. Like the Spurs. Yeah.
Exactly.
Do you have any idea what Steve's gonna do?
Uh, I think and hope he's coming back. Um, I don't know more than anyone else in the world knows outside of— what I do know is that he wants to coach.
Mm-hmm.
And so, if he wants to coach, I think he comes back.
You raised a few eyebrows when you said that you felt like he had hindered your career.
In what way? Well, I think, number one, people took a 4-minute clip of me saying how great this guy's been to my career, how much he's taught me about winning, where I wouldn't be without him, and all these things. And they took a 4-minute clip, and they took 15 seconds of it where I said, you know, I think from an offensive standpoint, he hindered me. I stand by that. That's my truth. But I think every basketball player in the world has some gripe that they wish their coach would have done. I wish my coach would have this. I wish my coach would have done that. I'm not afraid to express my one gripe. But with me expressing my one gripe, make no mistake about it, I also said all of the incredible things, how much of a better man he's made me.
Yeah.
I spoke on all of those things, and we take one clip.
Right?
So—
I agree with— I agree. I heard the whole clip. Yeah. You know, and I think that one thing that he— you would've— you could've been a very possibly a better offensive player in another system. But I don't think you would've been a better player. I think that he— the way the Golden State Warriors set you up made you a better overall basketball player. You became a smarter player. You became a point forward. And some of it was Mark Jackson moving to that position as well. And, like, just figuring out where you need the ball I thought was ingenious, and it made you difficult to guard. So again, your 12 to 15 points on games was super impactful when that happened.
They were super impactful. By the way, I have zero regrets about my career.
That's—
that's the beauty of it. I can say what my gripe is, and everything's still great. There's no regrets about it.
We ain't holding you back today though, Jay. Let's roll it, baby.
