It goes without saying that Steph Curry and Draymond Green have been through quite a bit together. Proving themselves. Turning around the Golden State Warriors. Winning awards. Making All-Star Games together. Winning a championship. And then another. And then another. And then another.
Green, Curry, and Klay Thompson are the three longest-tenured players in the league by a single team. So the bonds run very deep.
So it was not a surprise that Curry was asked to speak about the latest chapter of Green’s career: striking Jusuf Nurkić in the face, being ejected for the third time this season, earning an indefinite suspension, and having it made public that he will enter counseling and needs to grow and adjust.
On Thursday, Curry was asked about his longtime teammate. Steph didn’t shy away from agreeing that Green’s actions in the last year — which also include putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, and punching then-teammate Jordan Poole — are unacceptable. But, as one would expect, he stood by his teammate, putting faith in Green’s ability to grow, mature, and come back a better person.
“Super confident in his ability to do that,” Curry said, when asked about Green’s hopeful personal growth. “And the conversations yesterday were about acknowledging that he can’t do what he’s been doing. He knows that. We know that. Everybody knows that. What that means to change, I think that’s the search for the answer. I think that’s the journey we’re on now. I think the tone’s obviously changed from any other suspension, or time’s passed … you’ve got to take a step back and make sure everyone’s right … everybody has their mountains to climb, and Draymond’s are his, and I’m confident he can get over the hump, however long it takes to get there.”
As I wrote about on Thursday, the benefit of an indefinite suspension is that Green — and the Warriors — get to focus on his reformation, rather than on weathering a finite punishment and then picking up at the same spot. It seems everyone is on the same page that Green needs to grow and see a behavioral change, no matter how long it takes. And it seems that everyone — even the Warriors’ opponents — are rooting for that.
