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Golden State Warriors All-Star forward Draymond Green is quite a polarizing basketball player, and his head coach Steve Kerr can attest to that throughout their years together in the Bay Area.
Kerr and Green have feuded over the years, but the result has also been four NBA titles together.
During a recent in-depth interview with The New Yorker, Kerr admitted that Green has pushed him to the limit. And while he would “do anything for him,” Kerr also admitted that Green has crossed the line to the point of no return.
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Draymond Green reacts with head coach Steve Kerr after being ejected during the final moments of an NBA play-in tournament against the Phoenix Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 17, 2026. The Suns defeated the Warriors 111-96. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“There are things he’s done that I can never forgive him for, and yet I will do anything for him,” Kerr told the outlet.
It’s no secret that Kerr and Green needed to be apart, whether during a game or in a more private setting. In December 2025, Green was seen telling Kerr, “Fuck you,” which ultimately led to the star forward being sent to the locker room in a game against the Orlando Magic.
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“Yeah. I mean, people are separating us. And my first five years, we had three tackles a year,” Kerr said of him and Green. “Part of it was that I had to show the rest of the team that I’m in charge. You have to do things according to a set of standards. It’s a community that you’re building, not just a team, a little society with values and standards and expectations. And then you’re a community that has to police itself. The coach has to demand certain behaviors, certain habits. So, for a long time we had a truce. I understood it very well. He understood me. But this year, we had a big blowup in December.”
Kerr called Green “a unique person” who has quite the basketball mind. He needs it to play his position of just 6-foot-6, when forwards are typically much taller elsewhere in the league.
Because Green, 36, is closer to retiring than not, coaching has been speculation. He usually wasn’t in that state of mind, but in a recent discussion, Green seems open to the prospect of coaching after his playing days.
Kerr isn’t sure, however, whether his temperament is right for it.
“I don’t know if he’ll be a coach. He definitely has the brains for it. I don’t know if he’ll have the patience,” Kerr explained. “He’s an incredibly passionate and emotional guy, and that passion and energy has often gotten him into trouble. And I love him. I think he’s a very good-hearted person with an incredible brain, but if he wants to train, he’s going to have to learn to control some of that emotion, that desire, and that fire that burns inside of him, and it’s not an easy thing to do.”
Draymond Green and head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors react during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 21, 2026. (For Griffin/Getty Images)
Green is not one of the most talented NBA players in terms of physical size, speed or strength. But Green knows how tenacious a defender he can be, making the NBA All-Defensive team nine times in his career, in addition to winning the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year award.
In fact, Kerr, who played with the iconic Chicago Bulls dynasty during his time on the court, said Green is the best defender he’s ever seen in the league.
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“That’s saying a lot, given that I played with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman,” Kerr added. “The modern game demands a lot more than in the 1990s. You have to be able to defend all five positions, because there is a lot of pace, energy and cross matchups. You run back in defense, you have to defend the player in front of you. And then there is the pick-on game: the opposing team will bring in the weakest defender in each pick-and-roll to gain an advantage.
“Draymond can defend any action, any position, any player. And he can also ruin the play behind the play if he is not involved in the action because of his brain, his speed and his range.”
It’s one of those rollercoaster relationships, but Kerr will never have any regrets with Green, even if he’s crossed the line once or twice.
Draymond Green speaks with head coach Steve Kerr after receiving a technical foul in the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings during the NBA season tournament at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on November 28, 2023. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
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While Green has a player option for next season with the Warriors, all eyes are on Kerr as he ponders a big decision about whether he wants to return as head coach or not. He told the outlet that it would be an easy decision if Green and Steph Curry retired this year, but that’s not the case.
Kerr said the Warriors will discuss their vision for the future in the coming weeks, but he is unsure at this point if he will be a part of it.
