Kerr said that even once Green returned to the bench late in Golden State’s 120-97 win against the Orlando Magic, he wouldn’t play again after what happened.
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“Obviously we got into it and I took a timeout just because I thought we lost our focus a little bit there,” Kerr said. “We discussed it a little bit and he made the decision to go back to the locker room to cool off and that’s all I’m going to say about it. It’s all private. I have nothing more to add.”
Green contributed nine points and seven rebounds in nearly 18 minutes after being ejected early in the second quarter Saturday against Phoenix for consecutive technical fouls.
“Tempers boiled over and I thought I better get out of there,” Green said. “I don’t think there was a situation where I was going to get better, so it was better to retire. That’s all.”
Green said he was available to play again, but it wasn’t his decision, and by then he too had stiffened.
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“I thought I owed it to my teammates for being there. I’m not going to give up on my teammates,” he said.
Golden State’s 15-15 record is not what this group expected at this stage, and Green noted that “that’s probably why tempers are running high.”
“Basketball, it’s what we do,” he said of what caused the frustration. “We play basketball, it’s an emotional game. People sometimes lose their emotions, that happens.”
He said of going to the locker room: “I thought it was the best thing for me” and then felt a responsibility to speak to the media “for sure.” Assistant coach Anthony Vereen accompanied Green.
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Stephen Curry said his observation was that Kerr and Green were “just having a good conversation.”
“That’s something they should talk about, not me,” the star guard said.
Curry said there were positive, winning vibes in the locker room after a good win and “I’m pretty sure we know how to be professional.”
Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski said Green “was a great teammate on the bench” after returning.
“It will be resolved,” Podziemski said.
Asked if he thinks the problem will persist, Kerr said: “No.”
“The group is ready, it could be seen in tonight’s game,” he explained. “We need Draymond. He’s a champion. We’ve been together for a long time. All we can do is keep the rest of the group pushing, keep getting better. I thought this was one of our best games. I thought the first half was brilliant, we just didn’t make shots. I thought Draymond played very well.”
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NBA AP: https://apnews.com/NBA