Draymond Green was fuming in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans after picking up his fifth foul with about five minutes remaining. Green motioned for the coaching staff to challenge the charge call, but they didn’t budge.
Still heated, Draymond waved off the staff and made his way to the end of the bench, where Warriors general manager Bob Myers cooled him down.
During his appearance with 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” Thursday live from Chase Center, Myers said his dialogue with Draymond actually started in the first quarter as the Warriors got off to another slow start.
“In the first quarter when we’re not playing well, he’s yelling at me, ‘We have no focus!’ Yelling at me,” Myers told Matt Steinmetz and Daryle ‘The Guru’ Johnson. “You didn’t see that stuff, right? My wife’s, like, ‘What’s he doing?’ I said he said we have no focus. I’m sitting there, like, ‘What do you want me to do?!’ I’m kinda mouthing to him, ‘Just keep playing man, just keep playing.’ But he’s not wrong. Our team had no focus. It’s like he’s looking for an ally. I guess he views me as that, which is a compliment. He began that dialogue in the first quarter.”
Myers said it was a rare occasion but that he felt a need to connect with Draymond.
“Sometimes I’ll go down to Iguodala when he’s not playing, and say, like, ‘What are we doing?’,” Myers said. “But I don’t do that.”
The game prior, Draymond and Jordan Poole each committed costly turnovers in the final 15 seconds before the Minnesota Timberwolves closed out a thrilling comeback. Draymond was animated all game on Tuesday night, as Myers said Sunday’s loss weighed on him heavily.
“He was upset after the game (Sunday),” Myers said. “Often, these guys just move on. He hates making those mistakes. He loves to win so much. He was pretty down about that. More down than I’ve seen him after most losses. I think he realized that he was part of a loss. But after that he was OK.”
Myers said he’s formed a unique bond with Green since taking him with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the first for Myers as a general manager.
“You gotta be willing to deal with some stuff in a relationship with him,” Myers said. “There’s times where you don’t want to. But I think he’s worth the effort. ... You can talk to him. I know that may seem hard for people that are listening to understand, they probably think you can’t reason with this guy, he’s not in a place to hear anything. I don’t think that’s true. The times where I’ve called him and we’ve disagreed on whatever it is, he’ll hear my side. When we suspended him (in 2018), he didn’t like that. But he’ll hear my side of it and then he’ll give me his side.”
Draymond is known for having a short temper but also being one of the smartest players in the game. Myers said you have to be confident when approaching Green with your opinion.
“He smells fear. You cannot approach him with fear or intimidation,” Myers said. “You can’t do that with him. If he sees you’re not afraid – and the truth is most people are afraid of him – if he sees that he loses respect. You can’t be afraid. Not saying I’m anything special, but I’ve known him a long time and been through some stuff.”
Considering Myers is due for a new contract this offseason, this episode is a good example of how he’s got a special connection with the dynasty core, and would be worth the big bucks to keep around.
