Draymond Green credits Mark Jackson for building the Warriors' dynasty by instilling confidence in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, repeatedly telling them they were the "baddest" shooters on the planet. Jackson's approach freed them to play without overthinking and shaped the team's identity.
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But where I do give Mark credit is the confidence that he instilled in us to be okay with being us. The confidence that he instilled in Steph to be like, like I can remember vividly conversations with him like, "Nah, dude, you the baddest dude on the planet." This is before Steph Curry's an All-Star. Bro, he said Steph and Klay were the best shooting backcourt. We all was like, "Is he crazy?" What's wrong with you? Everybody though. Absolutely. We're in meetings, we're in locker room, we're in practice. And he's like, "Dude, you're the baddest dude on the planet." And I'm just sitting there like, this dude's about to tell him he's the baddest dude on the planet. Right. Klay Thompson. Like, Klay has no conscience. Most coaches would have essentially forced him to have a conscience. For sure. Mark Jackson fed that. Like, "Nah, dude, you don't think, shoot." Like, "What you thinking about? Shoot the ball." Right. And so what Mark instilled in us allowed us to become that.