In this interview, Draymond Green discusses the fallout from his NBA suspension, acknowledging his failures to the Golden State Warriors organization, the NBA, and his personal circles. He recounts a commitment from owner Joe Lacob for the next four years, admits he "failed miserably" in meeting expectations, and describes how he initially tried to block out criticism but instead immersed himself in it. Green details a two‑day period (Dec 12‑14) spent isolated in his "man cave," during which his young daughter interrupted him, prompting him to leave the solitude. He describes a pivotal visit from Coach Steve Kerr, where both men cried and Kerr praised Green’s recent press conference for showing genuine accountability without excuses. Green emphasizes the importance of speaking without "buts," echoing advice from his wife Hazel. He expands the conversation to his broader roles—as a father, husband, podcaster, business owner, TV personality, and Black man—asserting that his responsibility in each sphere has been mishandled. The segment includes a brief ad read from Colin Cowherd for DraftKings, which is peripheral to the main narrative.
Chapters
Joe Lacob made a commitment to me this past summer for the next 4 years. And the conversations that we've had, we had in leading up to that, I failed miserably. And I apologize for that. The Golden State Warriors organization, I always say like, that's my baby. Like Steph, Klay, Steve, Bob, like, We've been there from the beginning of what you know the Warriors as today. And I failed them miserably. And that, you know, I've heard, so oftentimes you, in what we do, you try your hardest to block out the noise, You try your best to not log onto this thing or not go onto that thing, not go watch this TV station because at times it can be very, very, very overbearing on top of what's already a very stressful life and a very stressful job. And this time I did the opposite. I dove all the way into All of it. So everything that everyone has said, I mean, it's impossible to hear everything because it's so much, but I've heard a great deal of what everyone has said. And normally I'd wanna say, "F you," or, "Watch me show you," or, Imma take that, imma bottle all of it up, and I'm going to use it to make sure I can throw it back in your face. And if I'm honest, that fuel has driven me so far. And being able to bottle those things up has driven me to who you know today. The reason you know the name Draymond Green, and I wouldn't say in large part because there's a lot that go into it, but a part of that is that fuel of grabbing all of those things and saying, now watch what I do to you with the fuel that you've given me. And this time was different for me. I watched him and I listened.
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So I took you back to December 12th. And now I'll say we're at December 14th. I sat in my man cave for 2 days and just sat there. My kids didn't know I was home. Only person really knew I was home was my wife. And my daughter, my 3-year-old, she FaceTimed me and she said, Daddy, you in the man cave. I said, "I am." And she just dropped the phone and came running back there and pulled me out, pulled me out into the yard and we played. And I'm not sure how much longer I would have sat back there, but I know it wouldn't have been the 14. And, It was special because I was just sitting back there in the dark listening to what everyone had to say. And although I didn't stop listening that day, I realized that I had to move forward that day. And Also on that day, Coach Kerr came to visit me after shootaround. And we sat in the yard, he cried, I cried. Because there's a bond there that seen it all. Seen the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. And he just said to me, I want you to end this the right way. I want us to end this the right way. And you're not doing that right now. So I want you to do what you have to do to get in the space to where you can do that. Mm-hmm. And that we can do that. And he said to me, "Your press conference the other day, I was happy, I was proud of it. It was so much better than your other ones." He said, "You took accountability, you apologized." And I thought, wow. Draymond's moving in the right direction. Said, because you've apologized before, but there's always a but. Or maybe you kind of apologize and there's a but. Said, no buts. And I started laughing. He said, what? I said, my wife told me that last night. She told me last night, whenever you are ready to move forward, whenever you're ready to speak, whenever you're ready to do whatever you need to do. I've heard you apologize and obviously I've spoke to you. So I know you're willing to apologize, but no buts. No buts. And I said to Steve, Coach Kerr, I said, Hazel told me the same thing. That's why I laugh, because it's so true. I said, and I'll get to explaining, you know, you go through these things and you start explaining maybe what you were thinking or And it comes off as like, but this, but that. And so I told both of them, whenever I do speak, there won't be a but. I let the Warriors organization down. I let the NBA down. My family, myself, my partners. I've always been one that said, your responsibility is what you make of it. Just because you're in this position don't mean you have the responsibility they say you have.
Mm-hmm.
And a part of me still believe that, but in going through what I've gone through, one thing that I do realize is the responsibility is much greater than I realize. And so I said that to say, Draymond Green. The responsibility that's been placed upon me as a father, as a husband, as a podcaster, as a business owner, as a television personality, as a Black man in America, I, I've handled it miserably.
