Draymond Green’s inability to manage himself has affected his teammates and coaches with the Golden State Warriors for years, and it occurred again following his ejection from a game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, March 27.
Officials ejected Green from the game in the first quarter for disputing a foul call. He got two technicals during a dispute with an official, then exited the court.
NBA analyst Jay Williams of ESPN appeared on the network’s Thursday, March 28 edition of “First Take,” where he claimed to have received text messages from multiple “high-level” sources who questioned Curry’s leadership based on Green’s behavior.
“I’m getting texts from people that I really value their [opinions], high-level people, and what these texts are reading is, ‘Well, how about the leadership of Stephen Curry?'” Williams said.
Molly Qerim, the host and moderator of “First Take,” interrupted Williams at that point to clarify that the unnamed sources texting Williams were calling out Curry’s leadership style and effectiveness.
“Yes. For him not controlling Draymond,” Williams responded. “Draymond Green is diminishing the ultimate legacy of how people are looking at the leadership of Stephen Curry.”
Steph Curry Not Responsible for Actions of Draymond Green, According to Steve Kerr
GettySteph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr spoke to the microphone later on Thursday during an appearance with 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs Show” to defend Curry and set the critics straight on exactly where blame for Green’s behavior belongs.
“Draymond knows. I mean, he’s a grown man. He’s got to handle his own business,” Kerr said. “Any mention of Steph being culpable is just ridiculous. The way Steph has carried our franchise, represented our franchise for 15 years, it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
And Kerr continued from there.
“He was the first one out there trying to talk Draymond off and handled it the right way,” the head coach continued. “And the reason Draymond got kicked out is because as he was walking back to the bench, he muttered an expletive that the refs heard. And so, he deserved it. You can’t do that, but that’s not Steph’s fault.”
Draymond Green Speaks Out on Ejection Against Magic
GettyDraymond Green of the Golden State Warriors argues with a referee, while Steph Curry stands beside him.
Thursday wasn’t the first time this season that Kerr has had to come to Curry’s defense over media criticism levied at the two-time MVP because of Green’s behavior.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith — typically the star of “First Take,” but who wasn’t on set during Williams’ comments Thursday — questioned Curry’s leadership after the NBA suspended Green for 12 games in mid-December. The league’s decision came down after Green threw a punch at Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic during a contest on December 12, 2023.
“Steph is as good of a leader as I’ve ever been around,” Kerr said on December 15. “I mean, the guy is an amazing human being. And what he’s done the past decade in leading this team through all of the ups and the downs and the turmoil, for anybody to question Steph Curry’s leadership, it’s actually kind of sickening to me.”
For his part, Green admitted to his actions on Wednesday night, giving credit to Curry for his postgame comments. Curry was right in his postgame comments about the team needing Green to remain on the court. This refers to the point guard's comments about the team's dependence on Green staying on the court.
“I was ejected four minutes into the game — can’t do that, no matter what was said,” Green explained on his podcast Thursday. Green expressed on his podcast Thursday that hehas to be on the floor, as Steph pointed out, and he needs to make that happen.
