Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green with head coach Steve Kerr. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Kerr responds to Draymond Green's curious comments

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 11/3/23

Steve Kerr appears to think that Draymond Green got a little bit out of pocket with his recent remarks.

The Golden State Warriors star Green sparked drama with comments applauding the team’s chemistry this season when compared to the “horse s—t” vibes they had last season. Those remarks easily read as a shot at ex-Warriors guard Jordan Poole, who is now on the Washington Wizards.

“Last year, we had an awful team as far as chemistry goes,” Green said bluntly, per Danny Emerman of KNBR. “Last year was horse s–t. Hard to come to work. Not fun. This year, you see the joy on guys’ faces when they come in the building … This is a group that likes being together.”

Appearing Thursday on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs,” the Warriors head coach Kerr rejected the suggestion that Poole deserved the blame.

“First of all, I think it’s unfair for people to just point at Jordan,” said Kerr, without mentioning Green by name. “That’s wrong. Last year went haywire for a lot of different reasons. Jordan was fantastic while he was here. He helped us win a championship.

“I hate that he gets any criticism,” Kerr added about Poole. “Last year went wrong for a number of reasons, and we all share the blame in that.”

Here is the full clip of Kerr’s comments.

Kerr says it’s unfair to blame Jordan Poole for last year’s struggles

Full response pic.twitter.com/ds0b09MNUK

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) November 2, 2023

Of course, Kerr was always going to take the high road with regard to his former player. Poole was a homegrown Warrior who blossomed from raw prospect to true 20-PPG scorer, and he did indeed play a meaningful role to Golden State’s 2022 title. But Kerr is probably objectively right too since there were plenty of signs that the veteran Green didn’t care to mend his relationship with Poole after notoriously punching him during a practice.

Kerr obviously knows exactly who he is dealing with in Green too. In what is now his 10th year coaching Green on the Warriors, Kerr has seen the good with the former Defensive Player of the Year (do-it-all contributions on the floor and emotional leadership to help bring Golden State to four titles) and the bad (fractured relationships with both Poole and other ex-Warriors).

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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