It sounds hard to believe, but at one point in time the Warriors had some relationship issues. Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and forward Draymond Green apparently did not have the best relationship. Green is known for his intensity on the court, but Kerr has to try and wrangle it. In February 2017, the relationship was so bad, Kerr wrote a letter Draymond Green to try and ease the tensions.
“A three-page letter,” Green says to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. “Handed it to me, and said, ‘Hey, I just want you to read this when you get a chance.'”
Green says the letter to him started off with “I love you and respect you. I know you’re hurting. We need to talk.” That was apparently all that Steve Kerr needed to say.
“I didn’t read another sentence,” Green continues to Beck. “I stopped. Threw the letter away. … That first sentence told me everything that I needed to know—he get it. He get it, he get me, I’m good. Whatever anger, or whatever it was that was built up in me is gone. He get it!”
It turned out to be the right decision. Beck notes that Kerr (and the rest of the Warriors for that matter) knew confrontation with Green was out of the question.
“I wanted him to understand that I understood that it’s a difficult time of the year,” Kerr says to Bleacher Report. “He knows how much I love him and how much I respect him. That was probably the first line. And then it was probably basketball stuff: Here’s where you can make an impact. Here’s how powerful you are to our team. As you go, the team goes. Something like that. But it’s always gotta come from the heart, it’s always gotta be more on a personal level than a basketball level.”
The next game, on the road against Philadelphia, showed that Draymond Green was back. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and five steals. Golden State won by 11.
