In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green and former NBA player‑turned‑analyst Kenny Smith discuss former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson. They reflect on Jackson’s role in turning a struggling franchise into a playoff team, crediting him with developing the confidence of young stars like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond himself, and argue that his dismissal was not solely a performance issue. Smith contends that misinformation and persistent rumors have distorted Jackson’s reputation, preventing him from securing another NBA head‑coaching job. Both guests share personal anecdotes—Jackson’s prophetic locker‑room speech about a future White House visit, his bold claim of having the greatest shooting backcourt—highlighting his vision and influence on modern basketball culture. The conversation frames Jackson’s continued unemployment as a "travesty" and underscores the broader need for coaches who can instill confidence in young talent.
Chapters
What do you make that here we are 11 years later, Mark Jackson took a franchise that had no success, goes to 2 straight playoffs and gets fired. Now you can make what you want of him getting fired, everyone can. That's neither here nor there. You got fired, teams move on. And quite frankly, it's hard to say they made the wrong decision We win a championship the next year. Now you can make the argument that, hey, they would've won if Mark was there next year too. All right, maybe you believe it, maybe you don't, who cares? But what do you make of him not getting a job as an NBA head coach? It's been 11 years now, he's still not a head coach, or well, 9 since he's been out. So it's 9 years since he's been out. He's still not a head coach. And if I'm looking at this, I'm like, well, I watched him go with a young Steph Curry, young Klay Thompson, young Draymond Green. And if he did nothing else, he gave those guys confidence. Well, guess what? Half the team in, half the teams in the league need someone who can go give their guys confidence, who can show them the way. Young guys, you look at all these teams, super young guys, and he hasn't gotten that opportunity. What do you make of that?
I just think that there were facts that were lied upon, and there were lies that now became facts. So there is a— the message of now each year, the lie gets bigger and the facts get smaller. So there are lies about Mark Jackson right now that I hear and they go, yo, "Hey, your boy did this and what, your boy said that." And I'm like, "No, that's a lie. I speak to the dude every day." Like, I speak to Mark at least once a week. Like, "No, Mike Muff doesn't think like that. He didn't say that. Oh, he didn't, no, he didn't do that." "Oh, this was a fact." And then it gets lied on. So now as an owner or a general manager, they're hearing the lies and they're not doing the research to find the truth. 'Cause the truth, would say exactly what you said. Are there coaches that have done things that you would say, man, why'd you do it that way? Of course, every coach. You probably could do that with Steve. But then when you add lies to it, there's no one to defend the lie. And that's the problem. There's no one there to defend the lie on his behalf. And Mark is choosing not to. Yeah. Defend the lie. And I would defend the lie all day. I'd be on, you'd see me on every stage. I'm like, yo, he's lying. He did this. And this is actually what happened. And so, but in terms of coaching and basketball knowledge and seeing what he, I saw him got outta you and Steph. And Steph Curry, before he got there, did not play in the fourth quarters of games. They used to play Monte Ellis.
Monte Ellis.
And they would say Steph could not play in the fourth quarters because defensively he could not handle the— I used to watch the Golden State Warriors and they used to say that. And he was going to be traded.
Yeah.
No.
He was definitely gonna be traded.
He was going to be traded until Mark Jackson got there. He saved not only the franchise, he saved the league. Like you think of Steph Curry, It's not. He saved basketball by that, by making this dude what he is and allowing him to be who he was. He saved basketball and changed the culture of the way we play today based on the way Steph plays. But someone had to have the vision to allow that to happen. He was the vision. He was not doing that before he got there. Neither were you. There was no undersized power forwards doing what you do. Klay Thompson didn't have the free rein that he do. It's a travesty that he's not coaching basketball.
I mean, I agree. I know what he did. I always tell people, you can look around the league, you have coaches that give guys confidence and you have coaches that takes confidence. And he is somebody that gave us, if nothing else, the ultimate confidence I don't know if you remember this, check this out.
I came to you guys' game and he brought me in the locker room, right?
Absolutely, I definitely remember.
When he was coaching. And he's speaking to the team and he goes, "Kenny, I just want you to see the team that's gonna be standing in the White House." Mm-hmm, I definitely remember that. And here y'all are the other, last week, again, standing in the White House.
Yesterday.
And I said, Mark, when you gave that prophecy, you should have said standing in the White House with me. You didn't add me. Me to it. That's why it's still happening. You didn't add the me. Because when he said it, I walked out of here and I was like, these dudes ain't going to no NBA Finals. I honestly said that in my mind. I'm like, these dudes— [FOREIGN] Steph don't shoot like that. This dude Draymond don't defend like that. All this stuff he's telling me, I'm like— and here we are, 5 championships later.
I remember, I remember he said And everybody went crazy. And he said, "I have the greatest shooting backcourt of all time." Everybody like, "Why would he say that?" Blah, blah, blah. And he's like, "No, I'm telling you, I got the greatest shooting backcourt of all time." For someone to say that— When it wasn't even clear.
Somebody went on TV. He didn't have the body of work to prove that.
No, not at all. If someone did that now, just in a TV position and said, "This is gonna be the greatest backcourt of all time," then 4, I mean, And then 4 years later you're looking at it and you're like, wow, they have a job like that just by saying it on TV.
Just by saying it on TV. 100%.
He's actually coaching that.
He's actually coaching that.
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