Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is no stranger to major verbal altercations with long-time forward Draymond Green, but the contentiousness of an argument in the third quarter of the team’s game against the Orlando Magic on Monday night, December 22 went further than usual.
Kerr and Green were caught on camera shouting at each other for several seconds, before Green stood up from the bench and left the court of his own accord. Following the contest, Kerr spoke with reporters and offered some details of the dustup.
“We got into it obviously, and I took the timeout just because I thought we lost our focus there a little bit,” Kerr said. “We had it out a little bit, and he made his decision to go back to the locker room to cool off, and that's all I'm gonna say about it.”
Green never returned to the contest following the court-side altercation with Kerr — a development that the Warriors head coach also briefly addressed.
“He wasn't going back in,” Kerr said. “Well, he left. He went back to the locker room. And so we moved forward, and the guys played great. Hell of a win, really good second half, and I'm really proud of the team. And like I said, nothing more to discuss from my end.”
Golden State went on to win the game by a score of 120-97 behind 26 points from Stephen Curry and big offensive nights from Jimmy Butler (21 points) and Moses Moody (20 points). Green finished the contest with nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Some time after Kerr made his postgame comments, Green spoke with media members.
“Tempers spilled over, and I just thought it was best that I get out of there," Green said. “I don't think there was a situation where it was gonna get better. So, it was just best to remove myself.”
“Sometimes, you're with people for a long time, there's a level of comfort and [expletive] happens,” Green continued, adding that he doesn’t foresee any lingering issues between himself and Kerr that might impact the team. “We move forward.”
The Warriors are now 15-15 on the season. They take the court next on Christmas Day against the Dallas Mavericks in San Francisco.
Newsweek