https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/kerr-choosing-draymond-the-person-before-draymond-the-player/1681684/

Kerr choosing Draymond the person before Draymond the player

By Dalton Johnson

• Published 15 mins ago

Steve Kerr is choosing Draymond Green the person before Draymond Green
the basketball player.

The Warriors coach spoke to reporters Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena
ahead of his team’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers for the first
time since the NBA suspended Green indefinitely following him striking
Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face Tuesday night during Golden
State’s 119-116 loss and is fully on board with the length of the
league’s punishment.

Multiple parties, including the NBA, the Warriors, Green and his agent
Rich Paul, believe the best course of action is keeping an open window
for Green’s suspension, as well as his return, instead of placing a
concrete number on how many games he will miss. Set suspensions,
including this season, haven’t served their purpose.

At the end of the day, Kerr’s focus is on making sure Green can utilize
time and tools to be the best version of himself – in every facet.

“To me, this is about more than basketball,” Kerr said. “It's about
helping Draymond. I think it's an opportunity for Draymond to step away
and to make a change in his approach and his life, and that's not an
easy thing to do. That's not something you say, ‘OK, we're going to do
five games, and then he's going to be fine.’ The league did that. They
did five games after the incident with Rudy [Gobert]. That's not the
answer, to pick a number.

“The answer is to help Draymond, to give him the help he needs, to give
him an opportunity to make a change that will not only help him, help
our team, but help him for the rest of his life. It's not just about an
outburst on the court. It's about his life. This is about someone who I
believe in, someone who I have known for a decade, who I love for his
loyalty, his commitment, his passion, his love for his teammates,
friends and his family.”

Kerr is in his 10th season coaching Green. In the past decade, he has
witnessed the unique greatness of his veteran forward. Kerr has seen
firsthand the defensive dominance of Draymond, all eight of his
All-Defensive honors, his four trips to the All-Star Game and the many
ways he has contributed to the Warriors’ four championships.

Without him, Kerr knows there’s a good chance the Warriors’ four most
recent championship banners aren’t hanging from the Chase Center
rafters. Green’s fiery passion has played a huge part in him having four
rings. But there also has been a negative side to it all, especially
recently.

Green has played 15 games this season and has been ejected three times,
all for physical altercations. Over the last 14 months, he has punched
his former teammate Jordan Poole in the face, stomped on Domantas
Sabonis’ chest, shoved Donovan Mitchell in retaliation, put Gobert in a
chokehold and smacked Nurkic across the face.

That’s not the version of a 33-year-old in his 12th NBA season that Kerr
knows best, and loves at the bottom of his heart.

“We're trying to help that guy, because the one who grabbed Rudy –
choked Rudy – the one who took a wild flail at Jusuf, the one who
punched Jordan last year, that's the guy who has to change. And he knows
that.

“Everything before that, over a decade of play, what are we really
talking about? Right? We're talking about getting ejected for yelling at
the ref or throwing a ball. But you look at the past year and what's
happened, it's clear he needs the opportunity to change and that's what
an indefinite suspension gives him the opportunity for.”

Less than a calendar month after grabbing Gobert by the neck, Green was
assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for hitting Nurkic. Green’s latest incident
occurred in just his sixth game after a five-game suspension for his
actions in the multi-player skirmish between the Warriors and Timberwolves.

Kerr’s main objective right now is support, however that might look.
Labels are easy to have placed upon someone, but not as easy to shed.
The last thing Kerr wants for Green is for this to be how he’s
ultimately remembered.

Whenever Green’s career does come to a close, Kerr’s hope is that this
past year of frustrations are placed behind his player’s accolades,
commitment to excellence, competitiveness and a legacy of being an
all-time winner.

And Kerr feels Green will return from these troubling times on top, no
matter how long he needs, but knows the reality of the current situation
more than anything else.

“I’m confident that he can come out on a better side,” Kerr said. “I
know him. He’s an incredible human being. He’s a very complex human
being. In a lot of ways he’s incredibly loyal and passionate and
competitive, and sometimes that same thing hurts him.

“Can he find that space to be on the floor and compete and bring it like
he does and not cross that line? That’s what he has to do, and I believe
in him. I think he’s going to be able to do it, but I’m not sitting here
saying, ‘In a couple weeks he’ll be fine.’ That’s not how this works.
He’s got a lot of work ahead.”