There were a lot of reasons the Warriors struggled this season. They played poorly on the road and were one of the worst teams in transition. However, Steve Kerr also pointed to a lack of trust that spread through the team after Draymond Green and Jordan Poole fought in an October practice.
“There’s no hiding from it — the incident with Draymond and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that,” Kerr said. “It’s hard for that not to impact a team….Anytime some trust is lost, then it makes the process much more difficult, and there was some trust lost.” However, Kerr also said that the team was not a contender without Green, who is facing a player option year.
Green Owns Up To Letting Team Down
Speaking with Stephen A. Smith during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Green reflected on how he lost his standing with the team after the fight with Poole. “We’re not playing right now because when you speak about the fouling, when you think about all of the slippage that we had as a team on the road, not being able to come together,” Green said. However, he continued, taking personal responsibility. “None of those things happen if that doesn’t happen, because the voice that I am and the departments that I lead this team in, there was a ton of slippage due to me sitting back, me not saying anything, me trying to allow that situation to play itself out and give it time to heal.”
He also revealed that it wasn’t until February that he felt comfortable enough to lead the team again. “If that slippage has been going on that long, you are who you are at that point. You’ve built those habits. You’ve built bad habits. That is who you are now. So to try to correct them then. It’s like, ‘OK, you may get a little better.’ We did. We ended up in the second round of the playoffs but not at a championship level.” What do you think about Draymond’s comments? Do you think he will return to the Warriors next year? Let us know in the comments below.
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