“He crossed the line,” the Golden State boss said.
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.”