"We all thought he was out of his mind" - Draymond Green reveals he was not amused by Steve Kerr's coaching philosophy initially
Draymond Green was not initially a fan of Steve Kerr's coaching philosophy. Kerr took over as coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2014. Despite his first impression of their coach, Green has won four NBA championships in the past eight seasons under Kerr.
The former Defensive Player of the Year was a recent guest on the "Checc-N-In" podcast (h/t Marca). One of the topics he discussed with Eugene "Big U" Henley was his coach. Green said he was surprised by Kerr's coaching philosophy and how different it was from Mark Jackson's.
Jackson, who coached Golden State from 2011-2014, relied on a pick-and-roll offense. He was fired because the Warriors' front office felt they needed a different coach to win a championship.
"The offense was very pick-and-roll dominant," Green said. "Like, we run a lot of pick and rolls for Steph (Curry), pindowns for Klay (Thompson) and seeking out matchups like, 'Oh, there's a mismatch. We are going at that mismatch.'"
Under Steve Kerr, the Warriors adopted a free-flowing offense that relied on ball movement and off-ball player movement. Draymond Green became the de-facto playmaker, while Steph Curry and Klay Thompson punished opponents with their outside shooting.
"When Steve Kerr took over the job, I remember the first training camp," Green said. "He's like, 'Ball movement, cut, stop standing and waiting for the ball.' I'll catch the ball at the top of the key, Steph on the wing.
"We all thought he was out of his mind. And then as we started to do it, then you figure it out and like, 'Yo, this is actually pretty incredible.'
"Like, it's ball moving, ball moving, ball moving, screen, roll, it's ball moving, ball moving, ball moving. There goes the mismatch, but nobody's really standing. And that's kind of where all this flow offense and all this stuff came."
Will Draymond Green receive a max extension from the Warriors?
The Golden State Warriors have a dilemma heading into the 2022-23 NBA season. Four important players — Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins — are due for contract extensions. Green has a player option for the 2023-24 season and could exercise it to become a free agent next offseason.
However, it seems like Warriors president and general manager Bob Myers wants to keep Green. On "The TK Show" podcast (h/t Heavy.com), Myers told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami that they will try everything to keep Green in Golden State.
"No, no, I would definitely, unequivocally say (he’s) not a guy we look at and say he’s not going to be around," Myers said. "Now, at some point, decisions are going to have to be made. But as far as his importance to this organization and what he's done, we're going to do everything we can to keep him in the fold."