Three championships deep on his Golden State Warriors tenure and Stephen Curry still hasn't been able to forget the perplexing battles between head coach Steve Kerr and the coach on the floor, Draymond Green — which to this day happen in between practices.
In an interview with Bill Simmons on The Ringer Podcast, Curry was taken back into memory lane, remembering the infamous halftime back-and-forth between Green and Kerr that ultimately sparked a comeback win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 27, 2016.
“I remember that game,” said Curry, who went off for 46 points and tied a then-record 12 3-pointers in a memorable overtime win. “Probably the times him and Coach Kerr get into it. And you’re inside of practice and you don’t know whose side to take. Just like, “I guess they’re both right, but they’re both wrong.”
Green infamously yelled “I'm not a robot” when asked to keep his 3-point attempts down after facing an 11-point deficit heading into the third quarter. While the two haven't had a blow-up that big since, Green and Kerr still butt heads from time to time, as Curry explained.
“They argue about a play call or maybe something Coach Kerr has been thinking about for a couple games,” said Curry. “… And [Draymond’s] like, “Don’t over-coach. We know what we doing.” And coach is like, “Well, I know you know what you’re doing, but let me just help you as I’m supposed to do. That’s what my job is, to point out things that could be important for us to win a championship.”
“But they have a real—the respect level between those two is at an all-time high, but they have their moments and it’s just amazing entertainment to watch in practice.”
The two-time MVP went on to share one of his favorite anecdotes from practice, the ones from behind the scenes that not many get to hear about.
“Coach’s first year, we were doing some five-on-five drill. It was early season, and Draymond loves talking trash to the whole team — doesn’t matter if it’s me,” Curry admitted. “Shaun Livingston was posting me up on the block and I had no chance to try to contest his shot. And he did a little turnaround, a Shaun Livingston vintage turnaround.
Draymond was like, “He’s too small, Dot! He’s too small, Dot! Baby food!” Yelling all that stuff in the middle of practice, and he’s on my team. [Laughs] I’m like, “Bro, come on.””
While Green's antics could likely be fight-starters in a different team, the Warriors have embraced him and his personality, despite the often-abrasive nature of his comments. While his antics have arguably cost them a championship in 2016, he's helped them to three in the last four years — something Kerr, Curry and company can likely live with.
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