Stephen A. Smith Reacts to Draymond Green’s Claim on Steve Kerr

 

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith has pushed back on Draymond Green’s assertion that coach Steve Kerr hindered his offensive development, arguing on First Take that Green had repeated opportunities to improve his shooting and did not.

In the April 30th episode of The Draymond Green Show, the Warriors’ defensive star said his offense could have made a mark had Kerr not prevented it. Smith pushed back on the four-time NBA champion’s claim.

“We can not count the number of times that defenses have sat back and dared Draymond to shoot jump shots, and he did not convert,” the ESPN analyst told Kenny Smith on First Take. “That is not the coach. That is you. And that’s my only disagreement with him.”

Smith brought up Green’s Game 7 performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals. Green was the leading scorer in the game with 32 points. On a night when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson went cold, Green made six of eight shots from the 3-point line. 

“I understand schematically [that] Steve Kerr could have, and maybe had he focused a little bit more on Draymond Green, he could have been a little better. But I am not about to sit here and blame a coach for you as a player, for you having opportunity after opportunity and years to improve your jump shooting ability, and it never happened,” Smith added. 

In his latest episode, Green said that he was grateful to Kerr for making him the defensive star that he is today. But he thought he could have been more offensively productive had Kerr not hindered him.

“You know, when [Kevin Durant] came from 2016 on, I have not had a play in our playbook,” he said. “Not a single play that we run for me in our playbook since 2016. You think that would hinder someone as an offensive player? Of course. …Sometimes I sit there and think, ‘What could I really have been if I stayed true to my game and what I really was?'”

Green’s argument has merit on paper because his offensive role was reduced after Durant arrived in 2016, as Green himself outlined on his podcast. However, Green also has to understand that it could mean the Warriors don’t win four championships. More importantly, they do not build a dynasty in the Bay Area. 

Curry, Thompson, and Durant were part of one of the greatest offensive lineups in ‌NBA history. But Green was the ultimate defensive force. He made his team scary on the other side of the court.

Draymond might have had more points, a few more personal accolades, but perhaps not those four titles. 

Steve Kerr on Draymond Green as a Coach: Emotion Control Would Be Key

Green makes his first impression on an NBA court as a physical defensive star with a lot of passion. But it is widely known that the four-time NBA champion is also one of the most cerebral players in the NBA today. 

Green has often expressed his desire to try his hand at coaching after his retirement. However, according to Kerr, Green needed to make a big change. 

“I don’t know that he’ll coach,” Kerr told The New Yorker on April 26. “I think he’s a really good-hearted person with an incredible brain. But if he wants to coach, he’s going to have to learn how to control some of that emotion, that desire, and that fire that burns within him.”

Green has often lost his temper during games. He has a total of 177 fouls in his career, the fifth-most in NBA history. He also has 25 career ejections, the second-most in history.