Steve Kerr details Draymond Green's 'emotional' 2-hour conversation amid commentary – NBC Sports Bay Area and CA

This isn't Steve Kerr's first rodeo.

As Draymond Green's coach for 10 years, Kerr has been there through all of the Warriors forward's highs and lows over the past decade, including extracurricular activities and on-court antics. After hearing numerous apologies and excuses in the past, Kerr shared why this time — Green's recent 12-game suspension for punching Phoenix Suns quarterback Jusuf Nurkic in the face last month — is different.

“I think Draymond knows his career is on the line. It really is,” Kerr said Tuesday. 95.7 The Game “Willard and Debs”. “Based on what's happened over the last year, based on the last suspension, based on everything that's happened – I think he realizes it's different this time. This wasn't a suspension for getting too many technical checks. This was a blatant foul.” One. This was different.

“This really alerted him. He alerted himself. That's what makes it different. That's why his reaction has to be the way it has to be.”

The NBA suspended Green indefinitely on December 13, one day after the Nurkic incident. The decision not to attach a number to the suspension stemmed from the league's hope that Green would take the necessary time to focus on himself and regain his sanity before returning to the court.

Green, who spoke publicly for the first time since his absence from “The Draymond Green Show,” revealed that he and Kerr had a very emotional discussion when his coach visited, saying the two cried together in his backyard. Kerr did not want to reveal what they talked about, but he shared more details about their in-depth conversation.

“I went to his house [Los Angeles] “The day he was suspended,” Kerr said. “We were playing the Clippers that night. I went over there and we had a very emotional, honest conversation for two hours in his backyard. I won't really share what we discussed, but we have a very close relationship after 10 years of doing this together. We're very close.”

“The whole thing at that point was that he has to get it right. His mind has to be right, his emotions are right, that's the most important thing. And we agreed that he has to handle himself and he has to handle everything on his own.” “, at his own pace, whatever that means. That's why, along with the league, the suspension period was indefinite.”

While Kerr's “You do you and I'll do me” comments were initially taken the wrong way by the NBA world, the coach made it clear that he meant no ill will and that was in fact what both sides agreed to.

“The agreement was, 'I'll give you your space, you'll do what you'll do and we'll stay in touch,'” Kerr said. “When you're ready to come back, you come back. And that's how it was. We didn't text every day but we texted a few times during the suspension. I was busy trying to win games, he was like that.” Busy dealing with his own stuff.

“And when I said we were giving him space and he was giving us our space, there was nothing mysterious about it at all. It was actually very real.”

The NBA reinstated Green on Saturday and he returned to coaching the Warriors on Tuesday before speaking to the media for the first time since his suspension. He is likely to return to the field with the team in the next week or two.

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