The Golden State Warriors’ 2025-26 season ended earlier than anyone in the Bay Area wanted. A play-in tournament loss to the Phoenix Suns. No playoffs. No championship. Just questions. Lots of them.
What happens next with Steve Kerr? Does he return as head coach, or is this the beginning of the end of a dynasty? Will Draymond Green opt out of his contract and walk? Is the Warriors’ window officially closed, or is there one more run left in this aging core?
Those questions are legitimate. They’re pressing. They’re the kind of debates that will dominate sports talk radio all summer.
But before we get to all that, Steve Kerr just reminded everyone of something that should never be forgotten: the unique, irreplaceable, and often underappreciated impact of Draymond Green.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker, Kerr was asked to compare Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan. Most coaches would have given a safe, diplomatic answer. Kerr did something else entirely. He used the question as a launching pad to heap praise on the man who has been the defensive heartbeat, the emotional engine, and the competitive soul of the Warriors dynasty.
His name is Draymond Green. And according to Kerr, without him, there are no championships.
“He’s an incredible leader. Michael was an incredible leader himself, but it’s an entirely different approach. I mean, Steph’s compassion for his teammates, his joy in life, his joy for celebrating everybody else’s accomplishments is so powerful. But without Draymond’s competitive edge and fight, I don’t think we win all those championships. They were the perfect compliment to each other.”
Let that sink in. Steve Kerr — who played alongside Michael Jordan, who coached Stephen Curry, who has seen greatness from every angle — just said that Draymond Green was as essential to the Warriors’ titles as Scottie Pippen was to Jordan’s Bulls.
That’s not hyperbole. That’s history.
Let’s break down why Kerr said what he said, what it means for Green’s legacy, and why this interview might be Kerr’s way of making one final public case for keeping the band together.
Part 1: The Question That Wasn’t Asked
Let’s start with the setup. Charles Bethea of The New Yorker asked Kerr a fairly standard question: compare Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan. It’s the kind of question that follows any all-time great. How does Curry stack up against Jordan? Different eras, different styles, different rules. It’s a debate that will never be settled.
Kerr could have given the predictable answer. He could have talked about scoring averages, Finals MVPs, defensive prowess. He didn’t.
Instead, Kerr pivoted. He acknowledged Curry’s greatness — “his compassion for his teammates, his joy in life, his joy for celebrating everybody else’s accomplishments” — but then he immediately shifted the focus to the player who made Curry’s greatness possible in a different way.
“Without Draymond’s competitive edge and fight, I don’t think we win all those championships.”
Notice what Kerr didn’t say. He didn’t say “without Klay Thompson’s shooting.” He didn’t say “without Kevin Durant’s scoring.” He didn’t even say “without my coaching.” He went straight to Draymond.
That’s a choice. And it’s a revealing one.
Part 2: The Scottie Pippen Comparison — Implied But Loud
Kerr never mentioned Scottie Pippen by name in this exchange. But the implication was deafening.
In Chicago, Michael Jordan was the greatest scorer and competitor the game had ever seen. But even Jordan couldn’t win alone. He needed Pippen — the do-everything forward who could guard the best player on the opposing team, run the offense, and take the pressure off MJ.
In Golden State, Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter and perhaps the most impactful offensive player of all time. But he needed Draymond — the defensive genius who could guard all five positions, the emotional firestarter, the quarterback of the Warriors’ offense from the high post.
The parallel is not accidental. Kerr lived both eras. He played with Jordan and Pippen. He coached Curry and Green. If anyone is qualified to make this comparison, it’s him.
And here’s what makes the comparison so powerful: Pippen was a top-50 player of all time. He’s in the Hall of Fame. He’s universally recognized as one of the greatest defensive forwards in NBA history. By comparing Green’s role to Pippen’s, Kerr is essentially saying: “Draymond belongs in that conversation.”
Some fans will scoff. They’ll point to Green’s scoring averages — never more than 14 points per game — and say he’s not in Pippen’s league. But those fans are missing the point. Basketball isn’t just about scoring. It’s about winning. And Draymond Green is one of the greatest winners of his generation.
Part 3: The “Perfect Compliment” — Why Steph and Draymond Worked
Kerr used a specific word that deserves attention: compliment. Not “complement” as in they fit together. “Compliment” as in each one makes the other better by being different.
Steph is joy. Draymond is fire. Steph lifts teammates up with positivity. Draymond demands excellence with screams. Steph celebrates everyone else’s accomplishments. Draymond celebrates winning — by any means necessary.
They shouldn’t work together. A laid-back superstar and a volcanic emotional leader? That sounds like a recipe for disaster. And yet, it worked. For over a decade, it worked. Four championships. Six Finals appearances. The most successful run in basketball since the Jordan-era Bulls.
Why did it work? Because they needed each other. Steph needed someone to be the enforcer, the trash-talker, the guy who would take a technical foul so Steph didn’t have to. Draymond needed someone to be the calm in the storm, the steady hand, the reason everyone kept believing even when things got chaotic.
As Kerr said: “They were the perfect compliment to each other.”
Part 4: The Timing — Why Kerr Is Saying This Now
This interview didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened immediately after a disappointing season. The Warriors lost in the play-in tournament. They didn’t even make the playoffs. The dynasty that felt eternal is suddenly showing cracks.
And now, Kerr is going public with his most passionate defense of Draymond Green at the exact moment when Green’s future with the franchise is most uncertain.
Draymond can opt out of his contract this offseason. He can become an unrestricted free agent. His name has come up in trade rumors — most notably involving Giannis Antetokounmpo at the deadline, though nothing materialized. There’s a very real possibility that Green has played his last game in a Warriors uniform.
Kerr knows this. And he’s making his case — not to the front office privately, but to the entire world publicly.
“Without Draymond’s competitive edge and fight, I don’t think we win all those championships.”
That’s not just a compliment. That’s a warning. It’s Kerr saying: if you let him walk, you’re breaking up something that can’t be replaced.
Part 5: The Future — What Happens to Green and Kerr?
The offseason ahead is full of uncertainty.
Steve Kerr: No decision has been made about his future. He could return. He could step away. He could take a front-office role. The Warriors have options, but none of them are simple.
Draymond Green: He has a player option. He can test free agency. He could chase one last big contract elsewhere. Or he could take a team-friendly deal to stay in Golden State.
The Core: Curry is still elite. Kerr is still a Hall of Fame coach. Green is still a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber presence. But age is undefeated, and the Western Conference is loaded with younger, faster, hungrier teams.
Kerr’s interview with The New Yorker reads, in part, like a farewell argument. It’s his way of saying: “Don’t forget what made this dynasty special. Don’t forget the guy who made it all work. Don’t tear it down before it’s truly over.”
Will the Warriors listen? That remains to be seen.
Part 6: The Legacy — Where Does Draymond Green Belong in History?
Let’s settle this now. Draymond Green will never lead the league in scoring. He’ll never win an MVP. He’ll never be the first option on a championship team.
But he might be the greatest defensive player of his generation who wasn’t named Kawhi Leonard or Rudy Gobert. He might be the smartest help defender in NBA history. He might be the most versatile defender of all time — a player who could guard point guards and centers in the same possession.
And he was absolutely, positively, undeniably essential to the Warriors’ four titles.
Kerr’s comparison to Scottie Pippen isn’t about scoring averages. It’s about impact. It’s about winning. It’s about being the player who does all the little things — the screen assists, the defensive rotations, the emotional leadership — that don’t show up in box scores but show up in championship banners.
Pippen without Jordan never won a title. Jordan without Pippen never won a title. Curry without Green? He won two MVPs, but he didn’t win championships until Green emerged as a starter. That’s not a coincidence.
Steve Kerr didn’t have to say what he said. He could have given a generic answer about Curry vs. Jordan and moved on. But instead, he chose a moment of uncertainty — a moment when the Warriors’ future is cloudy and Draymond Green’s future is in doubt — to deliver an emphatic, unequivocal, passionate defense of No. 23.
“Without Draymond’s competitive edge and fight, I don’t think we win all those championships.”
Those aren’t the words of a coach trying to be nice. Those are the words of someone who knows exactly what he saw, exactly what he experienced, and exactly what history will remember.
Draymond Green is not everyone’s favorite player. He talks too much. He crosses the line sometimes. He has a technical foul problem and a reputation that precedes him.
But he is a winner. And Steve Kerr just made sure that everyone remembers it.
Whether Green stays in Golden State or walks this summer, whether Kerr returns to the bench or steps away — that legacy is secure. Draymond Green was the perfect compliment to Stephen Curry. And without him, the dynasty doesn’t exist.
That’s not hyperbole. That’s not coach-speak. That’s the truth.
And now, it’s on the record in The New Yorker for all time.