Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Shares the Draymond Green Action That Made Him the Angriest

"He crossed the line," the Golden State boss said.
Jun 16, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) celebrates with head coach Steve Kerr after the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in game six of the 2022 NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship at TD Garden.
Jun 16, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) celebrates with head coach Steve Kerr after the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in game six of the 2022 NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship at TD Garden. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and forward Draymond Green have been coworkers for a decade now—and like all personal and professional relationships that last 10 years, theirs has had its share of ups and downs.

The ups—NBA championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022—have helped Green become a cultural icon. The downs have burnished Green's reputation as a loose cannon, and one moment in particular stood out to Kerr as he looked back on Tuesday's edition of The Dan Le Batard Show.

"For sure, the Jordan Poole incident," Kerr said when asked to name the angriest he has ever been with Green.

Green punched the now-Washington Wizards guard in the face during a practice on Oct. 5, 2022; the incident overshadowed the rest of the Warriors' season, their second-worst by winning percentage under Kerr.

"Draymond and I are a lot alike in many ways. People probably wouldn't see that from the outside," Kerr said. "He crossed the line with Jordan and he knows it. He knew it immediately, and it made that season incredibly difficult for everybody."

Green's behavior has wavered at times since then. In 2024, he served two lengthy suspensions after in-game acts deemed egregious by the NBA.

"(The Poole) story has been regurgitated many times," Kerr said. "That's probably the time I was most angry. There's your headline."


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .