In this end‑of‑season interview, Warriors forward Draymond Green reflects on the 2025‑26 campaign, discussing the franchise’s long‑term stability, the uncertainty surrounding Coach Steve Kerr’s contract, the impact of injuries on the roster, and the team’s performance relative to expectations. Green emphasizes his personal preference for continuity, gratitude toward the organization’s staff, and the importance of rewarding those who support the team with playoff bonuses. He offers candid thoughts on his own future, stating he is not retiring but hopes his leadership and on‑court contributions keep him valuable. Green also praises the Phoenix Suns’ players—Devin Booker, Dylan Brooks, and Jalen Green—while noting the Suns’ injury challenges. Throughout, he balances optimism with realism, acknowledging the season’s shortcomings, the need to “take the good with the bad,” and the desire to return stronger next year.
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Draymond, when you and Steph came out, the three— you and the two of you and Steve sort of embraced, not asking you what you said, but just sort of what was the emotion like in that moment? You know, just appreciating this year, all the years that we've been together. You know, maybe the last time, so. Just to share a moment, uh, was good.
Draymond, can you imagine life without us?
No, I couldn't. Oh man, that beer got me. Um, no. I think one of the biggest blessings as far as my career has gone is being able to be in one place. I've had the same coach for 12 years. Obviously, Coach Jackson for 2. But I'm not really someone who likes things to change. You know, I like pretty vanilla status quo. Keep things the same. And so to have the situation that I've had has been incredible for me because I just don't deal with change well. I don't love it. So, no, I don't want to think about that. I hope that's not the case. But we'll see what happens.
Steve, when he made it pretty clear, it's definitely up in the air as far as he's concerned. He's going to talk with Joe and Mike maybe after a week or so. Are you worried that this is it for Steve coaching you guys?
Yeah. You know, I think it'd be, pretty crazy not to think that's a possibility. You know what I will say is I think, you know, most coaches don't coach on the last year of a contract. I think Steve coaching on the last year of a contract is also just his comfort level and who he is and what he is and what he has to offer. So I don't make much out of like, oh man, he didn't sign an extension, like if— Yeah. But yet the possibility is there that he doesn't resign. So, yeah. I don't even remember what your question was, but—
That was it.
Yeah, I hope not. Steve said that even though there were so many injuries and setbacks and losses this year, he still enjoyed coaching the team. He still enjoyed the process. For you, how would you sum up this year for you as an individual? As an individual, it's been crazy. You know, just so many guys going in and out of the lineup. Just unfortunate stuff, right? Like Moses' things were just unfortunate. Jimmy get hit in the head, it's just unfortunate. Stuff, you know. But overall, I think it's been, you know, another year in the NBA. I can't complain too much. You know, it's not the worst. There's people dealing with so much worse. You know, we get to walk in that building every day, dribble a basketball, make a great living. My kids are growing like crazy. They're doing great. You know, got a new little one. He's great. You know, so, they really— excuse me, stuff ain't really as bad as it seems. It's never as bad as it seems. It's never as good as it seems. Draymond Green. But, you know, at the end of the day, healthy, and so I'm grateful. You know, the Warriors organization is still the best organization in the world, and I've been blessed to play there for 14 years. Work with incredible people every day. So, overall, I would say individually it's been a good year for me. [SPEAKING SPANISH] I've gotten a chance to work with some of the best people in the world at what they do for another year. Obviously didn't go the way we wanted it to go. It didn't go the way we, you know, would have foreseen it going. But, you know, that's— that comes with the territory. That's just a part of it. So you got to take the good with the bad. You know, congratulations to the Phoenix Suns. I actually—
Thank you.
Wanted to be out there to shake their hand and tell them congratulations. But congratulations to them. You know, to all our staff. You know, I think, I think for me personally, I hate losing, obviously. But the more you win, the more you take care of the people that take care of you in these buildings. And so that's why it's just been so important to win because— Draymond Green. If you're winning, there's no conversation about Coach Kerr, you know. There's no conversation about what it looks like next. When you're winning, you know what it look like next. And so, it's been an honor to win at such a high level because there's just not a ton of turnover in our building, you know.
And—
The more you win, the more you take care of the coaching staff, the video staff, the training staff, the PR staff, the community relations staff. When you're winning, you don't— you're not looking for change. You're looking for consistency and how to keep it going. And so, I think if there's anything that bothers me from this season, it's just that we haven't won at a high enough level to take care of— Draymond Green. The people who takes care of us on a daily. And so you leave them kind of in a situation like, man, I don't know what it looks like for me next. For us, we go on, we play basketball. Maybe you're here, maybe you're there next year. But for everybody who works with us, I don't think anyone ever takes that into consideration. And that's the thing that, you know, when it all looks bad, that's the thing that keeps Steph Curry coming back. You know, like—
I'm not Steph Curry.
Oh, yo, I'm gonna get us a goal because you take care of so many people when you're doing this. And so, I'd say it's been overall a, you know, that part sucks. You know, that you, we didn't quite lock in the people that helps us on a daily basis. And I'm forever grateful for those people. Some of those people I've worked with for 14 years. Some of them 12, some of them 10. And like the best feeling in the world, man, is like being able to take care of them. The best feeling in the world is getting a playoff bonus and slicing a piece of that to give to them. You know, like, man, you know, you win a championship, some of the playoff bonuses we slice to give out, it's life-changing money for people. And so not being able to do that, I think is what bothers me more than anything.
Like— Draymond Green.
I've won 4 championships. If I don't ever win another one, I won 4 more than most, or 3 more than a lot of people, 2 more than a bunch of people, 1 more than most people. Like, so, you know, but just being able to take care of the people that help us, I think is the shittiest part of this year.
We've talked, so, you know. What's your current thought on your future?
Yeah, I don't know. I'm not retiring from basketball though. I'm still— I still love to play. I think I'm still pretty decent. But this league we're in is an interesting one. And it's one that you don't really control everything. So, for me, I hope I've done enough to still be here, you know? Because at the end of the day, if I ain't done enough, I don't want to be here. You know, I don't— like I've told y'all before, I don't ever want like, yo, we just going to keep him around because what he's— Draymond Green. I done before? Like, what can I still do? And by the way, that's, that's not just playing, right? Like, that's leadership. That's helping bring the young guys along. That's helping move the organization forward. Like, you know, so, you know, hopefully I've done enough to still be here. But if not, we'll see what it looks like.
Draymond Green.
It's been a hell of a run. So, I hope I've got higher and high enough in the meter of doing things. If not, then we'll see what happens next. But if the question is where I want to be, I think it's pretty obvious, guys. Like, where the hell I'm going? They want me here. I'll be right here.
Draymond, to your point, in everything you said, how do you contextualize this season against the run that you guys had?
I think we've been hit with more injuries this season than anything I've ever seen. And, you know, it's not quite the ending you want. But it happens. And, you know, we whooped on a lot of people for a long time. Once you get whooped on, you can't put your head down. You gotta take the punches and move forward, you know? So, you know, we take pride in not being front runners. Like I said, congratulations to Phoenix. They moving on to the playoffs. They deserve it. To every other team that kicked our ass this year, they deserved it. Got to take the good with the bad, man. We put our— the best foot we had, we put forward. And at the end of the day, as long as we do that, you got to live with it. But, you know, I never will be a guy who's like, "Oh, man, now it's hard." Nah, bro. Like, when we was beating everybody, I sat up here with a smile. When they beat us, I'm going to sit up here with a smile, you know. Yeah. It happens, you know. Hopefully, in a position where we can go back to the drawing board this summer and figure it out and come back next year and whoop up on some people. That's the goal. That's— that would be the plan. But, you know, regardless of the injuries or not, a lot of teams got us this year. Kudos to them. Uh, At the end of the day, every night we put NBA players out there. Some nights we won, some nights we lost. Injuries are a part of the game. So as much as they suck, it's a part of it, you know? And you gotta, like I said, you gotta take the good with the bad. So, you know, we weren't good enough this year regardless of what the situation was and why. We, you know, we gotta go back to the drawing board and—
Draymond Green.
See what we can do.
Draymond Green.
Draymond, when you guys got Jimmy last year, we all kind of figured you get 3 cracks at this. Do you feel like you're going to get one real shot with this group, even looking ahead to the injuries next year? Man, I hope so. You know, obviously Jimmy getting hurt, Moses get hurt, changed a lot of things. So we'll see. You know, what happens. But if we don't get another crack at it, it's been great. Hopefully we do. Last one.
Steve talked about the difficult situation that Draymond Green and Ja came in to coach Phoenix back to the playoffs. And what can you say about this the biggest difference between this team and the matchups you've had against this year? Obviously there's more wins compared to last year, but what can you say is the biggest difference that you've noticed about this team compared to the past few years with Kevin?
Well, let's not put this all on Kevin, like Kevin's not great, because Kevin is great. And there will be no Kevin slander on my watch. Because Kevin team is, wasn't fighting it, get in, you know. Kevin's doing just fine. And they're doing just fine. I think when you look at the situation, I think it benefited both teams for Kevin to leave here. I think it benefited Houston. I think it benefited the Suns. And speaking of Jordan Iyie, number one, you know, for Matt Ishby to go find the right guy. Matt Ishby and Brian Gregory to find their guy, their type of guy. Obviously, I'm a little jaded because them my Spartans. And so, but to go find their guy in a situation where it's like, yo, they're about to rebuild. They're getting rid of Kevin. They're getting rid of like, Brad Bill's gone. They're going into a rebuild. Give Devin Booker credit. Devin Booker, everybody's like, yo, he's chasing money and he's just gonna stay there and die. And why is he standing there and not requesting a trade? And he put his head down and led a group. Dylan Brooks, give him credit. You know, he came in, any team he goes to, there's a certain mentality that team gonna play with. You saw it all year. I think they're not in the play-in if Dylan Brooks doesn't get hurt. If Book doesn't get hurt and miss time. Jalen Green, what, he missed 60 games this year? I don't think they're in the play-in.
Yeah.
If those guys don't miss as many games as they miss, you know? So, give them credit, man. Like, Draymond Green formulating a staff that has put the work in to maximize the talent that they have in this group, you know? And like I said, those 3 guys, man, Jaylen— Jaylen's changed that team since coming back. You know, he's adding a 3rd scorer like that, You know, it's incredible, you know. And like I said, booking Dylan Brooks the whole year, just been going, going, going, you know. I saw somewhere Dylan Brooks said, like, I saw people saying we were going to rebuild. F that, you know, like, we ain't going no rebuild. So you got to give those guys credit, you know. Every day they've shown up. They've done the job. Despite the injuries, they've continued to do it and they're moving on. So, give those guys a lot of credit, man. Regardless of what happens in the first round of these playoffs for them, I think it's a very successful season because they took, they took some lemons and they made lemonade out of it. And you gotta give those guys a lot of credit. Book and Dylan Brooks in particular, how they've led this group. I think this whole group has taken on Dylan Brooks' mentality. And that's what a guy like that does. So give them a lot of credit, man. They've done an incredible job.
