Draymond Green aims to cut antics – ‘Cost my team enough’

SAN FRANCISCO — As Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr welcomed Draymond Green back to practice following his indefinite suspension, teammate Brandin Podziemski gave a round of applause.

But Green didn't think he deserved that.

“I've cost my team enough. I've cost this organization enough,” Green said during a press conference Tuesday.

Green has spent the last three and a half weeks in counseling, part of the requirements set by the NBA for Green's return after hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic on Dec. 12.

In her first session, her therapist laid out the bottom line clearly and simply: Don't do these sessions to check a requirement box, or you'll waste everyone's time.

Green said the focus was on figuring out what kind of help he actually needed to better understand what was causing his aggressive outbursts on the field. That’s why he looked into the process.

“It was very easy to open up [to therapy] on a personal level because I needed to regroup and refocus and recalibrate,” Green said. “It's hard to see things when you're in it… it's hard to see what needs to be seen.”

He did not touch a basketball for the first 10 days of his suspension.

On a call with his agent, Rich Paul, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy and coach Rick Celebrini, Green tensed when they mentioned a targeted return date.

“Basketball was the least important thing to me. I needed a break,” Green said. “One of the best things for me was not waking up the next day and saying, okay, I have to do this job.”

When Green felt ready to start training again, that in itself felt like therapy, he said.

Green was adamant that his thinking this time around wasn't because the league stepped in and mandated it, but rather because he had the time to dedicate to it.

“Part of going back indefinitely was getting into a better space, to allow my mind to process what it’s like to get into a better space,” he said.

During his five-game suspension in November — the one for putting Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold — Green said his mind was completely focused on his first game back, rather than the reason why he was suspended.

The same goes for when he was suspended for one game in the first round of last year's playoffs after stomping on Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis. Or when he walked away from the team after hitting former teammate Jordan Poole during training camp last season.

The Warriors, as a team and organization, are also hoping that this suspension will result in different results.

“I’m just open-minded,” Kerr said. “…He's still obviously a big part of this business and a big part of our leadership. He's going to take over that role. But he needs the awareness that comes from what he's just experienced and what he put the team through, too.”

Kerr said there would be a “no more buts” rule with Green, meaning that when an apology is needed or given, “there can be no explanation that follows the apology.” This has often been the case for Green when he found himself in some sort of disagreement or problem.

As Green returns — he practiced for the first time Tuesday and will be a full participant for the rest of the week, including scrimmages — he said he has no time to waste . In its 13 away games, the Warriors have struggled. They sit in 12th place in the Western Conference with a 17-19 record. Their starting lineup and rotation have been a mess, and their defense over the last two games has been nonexistent.

The hope is that Green can help. But no date has been set for his return to play. That green light will be given not only by the team's performance team, but also by Kerr and Green's teammates.

In the meantime, Green is trying to give his team everything he has.

“It's not the time for me to come back and say, 'OK, I'll take my time and I'll come back when I can.' “No, you caused this yourself. You don’t get grace,” Green said.

Whenever Green is allowed to play in games, all eyes will be on his behavior and interactions with opponents and referees.

As someone whose fire has been touted as an asset to his team, the question arises as to whether Green will be able to find the appropriate balance of bringing his usual energy to the team without finding himself in difficult situations that could put him in difficulty.

Green said his goal is not to go back and worry about crossing a line, although understanding where that line is has been a priority.

“When I think about these situations, I ask myself: Can I cut out the antics? I'm very confident I can cut out the antics,” Green said. “And I'm very confident if I do that, no one is worried about how I play basketball [or] how I behave in basketball. These are the antics. It is the objective. It doesn't completely change who I am. You don't change the spots on a leopard.

“I'm not going to set unrealistic expectations for myself… Can I accept that my antics are over-the-top? Of course. Can I remove them? Of course.”