Draymond Green was unexpectedly benched during four crucial minutes of the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics in Game 4, and it was a moment that set the NBA world talking.
While Green was benched and was unhappy with the decision, he was ultimately happy with the outcome – a Warriors win.
“Everyone wants to talk about benching me from 7 and a half minute mark to the 3 and a half minute mark min mark,” Green said. “I know one question was if Coach Kerr talked to me about that? Absolutely not, nor did he need to…As long as we win the game, whether I’m playing or Wiggs is playing or Moon is playing, whoever else is playing…I don’t care.”
Make no mistake, Draymond Green was extremely frustrated with the decision to bench him in the fourth quarter. It took many words of encouragement from numerous teammates to calm Green down before he checked back into the game.
“Was I pissed off and frustrated,” Green said. “Absolutely. Seven minutes to go in an extremely important game, we can’t go down 3-1 and I don’t want to go to down 3-1, and I’m coming out of the game. I was livid, but I credit my teammates, Juan Toscano-Anderson. This is where when you’re trying to win a championship, this is where everything matters, and everyone matters. I credit Juan Toscano-Anderson. Not only was in my ear the whole night, but when I was frustrated when I came out of the game at the seven-minute mark, he was in my ear. Chris Chiozza was in my ear, Gary Payton was in my ear, and it was huge. Because I was able to respond due to their positive energy that they were pouring into me.”
It’ll be interesting to see what Steve Kerr does moving forward for Game 5. Benching a starter for one game may be tough, but benching him for a second one may have been even tougher.
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