Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green left the court and headed to the locker room during Monday night's victory over the Orlando Magic after a heated exchange with head coach Steve Kerr in a third-quarter huddle.
Kerr said he took a timeout because he felt the team had lost focus, and that the pair 'had it out a little bit'. He added that Green made the decision to go to the locker room to cool off, and declined to elaborate further, saying everything was private.
Green explained after the game that tempers had spilled over and he felt it was best to remove himself. He said he would have been happy to re-enter the game but Kerr chose not to send him back on to court. 'I thought I owed it to my teammates to be there. I'm not going to quit on my teammates,' he said.
The incident came days after Green was ejected from Saturday's game against the Phoenix Suns for consecutive technical fouls. Golden State's 15-15 record is below expectations, and Green acknowledged that was probably why tempers were flaring. 'Basketball, it's what we do,' he said. 'It's an emotional game. People lose their emotions sometimes.'
Stephen Curry said he believed the exchange was 'just a good conversation' before Green left, and that it was a matter for the two to discuss privately. Brandin Podziemski, the Warriors guard, said Green was 'a great teammate on the bench' after returning.
Kerr stressed that the team needs Green, who has been with the Warriors since being drafted in 2012 and has won four NBA championships under Kerr. 'All we can do is the rest of the group keep pushing,' he said. Green himself said that after such a long partnership, 'there's a level of comfort and shit happens. We move forward.'
