After the defending NBA champion Warriors were dispatched by the Lakers in the West semifinals, coach Steve Kerr addressed why he believed Golden State fell short of defending its championship.
Just days removed from Kerr saying the Warriors had maxed out their potential and weren’t a championship team, the longtime coach pointed to missing trust stemming from the training camp incident between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole.
Green punched Poole during a preseason practice and the video of the incident was leaked on social media. The team and Green mutually agreed he should leave the team for a week before the start of the regular season.
“Anytime some trust is lost, then it makes the process much more difficult, and there was some trust lost,” Kerr told the media during exit interviews on Tuesday. “That’s as blunt as I can be. We have to get back to what has made us really successful, which is a really trusting environment and a group that relies on one another and makes each other better.”
When asked if his statement was directly referring to the incident between Green and Poole, Kerr confirmed.
“There’s no hiding from it. The incident with Draymond and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that. It’s hard for that not to impact a team.”
It’s a big summer for the Warriors as a franchise. General manager Bob Myers has a decision to make regarding whether or not he wants to return, and Green has an opt-out available for his $27.6 million player option next season, which is the final year of his current deal.
Green said following the team’s elimination that he wants to be a “Warrior for life,” but also stated that Myers’s decision to return could impact his own choice of whether or not he will choose to become a free agent.
