The Golden State Warriors' season ended in the Play-In Tournament at the hands of the Phoenix Suns, and Draymond Green used the first episode of his podcast after the loss to clear the air on three separate fronts: the viral Devin Booker altercation, what he thought was an unnecessary double ejection by referee Scott Foster, and his genuine uncertainty about whether Steve Kerr will be on the Warriors bench next season.
Green opened by directly rebutting the claim, reportedly relayed to the officials by Booker, that he had punched the Phoenix guard in the stomach.
"Devin Booker told Scott Foster that I punched him in the stomach, which is a lie. Number one, I punch with closed fists. Number two, it's very obvious I was taking a foul," Green said. "Scott Foster goes to review it, realises I didn't punch him in the stomach, and he calls an away-from-the-play foul. Guy's passing the ball, so I'm not sure how it's away from the play."
Green said he pressed Booker on the claim at the free-throw line. "I just kept saying, 'So I punched you?' and he didn't want to answer. And then finally he was like, 'Man, I moved on, Dre.' I asked again, so I punched you? And he got a little testy and started making some comments. So I made some comments back to him. But make no mistake about it — Book, that's my young fella. Always have been. That relationship stems back to Book being in high school. Ain't nothing going to change that relationship."
The Warriors forward said the two spoke on the phone after the game and cleared it up directly.
"Book called me after the game. We chopped it up and we moved on," Green said. "I'm not going to get into the context of our conversation that we had, but we had a conversation and it was much needed. Like I said to him, the relationship to me means far more than anything else. He thought I was calling him a choice word, which I was not. I was calling Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green, who were behind him talking."
Green reserved his sharpest criticism for the officiating. He argued Foster's decision to eject both him and Booker with one minute left in a closeout play-in game was "pointless" and out of step with how the game was being played.
"Kicking us out with one minute to go is pointless. The game is over," Green said. "Our season's ending, theirs is moving on. I really just thought he did too much in the situation. It wasn't a situation that was getting out of hand. I really thought he just did way too much — which is why once he ejected, you get out too. Everybody get out. It's time to go."
Green also revealed a smaller moment the ejection cost him — a postgame handshake with Dillon Brooks that he said he had already promised to deliver.
"Dillon Brooks said when I was on the bench, 'Yo, you're going to shake my hand after the game, right?' I said, 'Absolutely, I'ma shake your hand because I'm not you. I'm not a guy that loses and runs to the locker room,'" Green said. "Because guys that lose and run to the locker room, they never win. If you don't know how to lose, you'll never learn. You'll never know how to win."
The more emotional portion of the episode came when Green turned to Kerr. With Stephen Curry, Green and Kerr sharing what may have been a final public moment together on the bench during the loss, the longtime Warriors forward said he doesn't expect his coach to be back.
"Obviously, before all of those things happened, Steph, myself, Steve shared a moment in what could be our last time playing with Steve as our coach," Green said. "If you ask me, I don't know that he's coming back. If you want my opinion, just with all the talk that's been going around, I think not. It just feels like that. I hope so. I hope he's our coach next year. I also hope I'm on this team next year. We also don't know that."
Green closed out the reflection with the long view — 14 years in the league, four championships, and a season that ended earlier than any of them expected.
"It just felt like that was it. It really felt like that was it," he said. "And man, if it was, what a run it's been."
