Draymond Green’s Tuesday postgame media session had many people believing he was calling out Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, but he said that isn’t the case on his podcast Friday.
“To say that I was blaming the young guys is essentially just what you all would be doing,” Green said (7:10 mark here).
Green added that he’s not one to blame his teammates and instead will point the finger at himself.
Green’s Original Quote and Media’s Reaction
After a 126-102 loss to the Thunder, Green was asked what’s the difference between how the team played last year down the stretch and how it’s playing this year.
“I think everybody was committed to winning and doing that any way possible,” Green said. “Right now, it doesn’t feel that way.”
Green continued: “I think everyone has a personal agenda in this league. But you have to make the personal agenda work in the team confines. If it doesn’t work, you kinda got to get rid of your agenda. Or, eventually the agenda is the cause of someone getting rid of you.”
ESPN’s Anthony Slater provided context about Green’s quote.
“When the term ‘agenda’ enters the mix, the attention tends to shift toward two of the Warriors’ youngest core members who have been outspoken about their desire for more — third-year guard Brandin Podziemski and fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga.”
Green Addresses Podz and Kuminga
The one-time Defensive Player of the Year spent most of his time addressing false narratives around Kuminga, but he did drop this line about Podz.
“I found that the great coach Steve Kerr challenged Brandin Podziemski, and he came out and played his best game of the year (against the Spurs).”
Green then explained that Kuminga didn’t play the second half against the Spurs due to knee tendonitis that had been bothering him since before the Oklahoma City game on Tuesday.
“Of course people are gonna create drama and say, ‘Kuminga didn’t come out after halftime because he was mad he didn’t play.'”
Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Kuminga played just 12 minutes in the first half, scoring zero points.
Green then defended Kuminga vociferously.
“JK has been one of the most bought-in guys on the team all year. How about that? Oh, my God. He is not the f–king assh–e and baby that y’all try to make him out to be and think he’s always complaining. How about that?”
Green continued: “JK has made it very clear that he wants to be an All-Star. … So when you feel like things aren’t going your way to allow that, you’re going to be upset as a competitor, of course. Kid works his ass off. Of course you’re gonna feel some type of way. Who would want someone who doesn’t feel any type of way? Great, I’ll show you a loser.”
One Thing Isn’t Adding Up
Green made good points about fans and media members who assume Kuminga is a crybaby who chose not to play in the second half as a protest for losing his starting role. Anyone who made those assumptions deserves to be called out.
But he never addressed who he was talking about with the agendas quote.
I’ve reread that quote dozens of times. I don’t know how you can say that and then blame the media for making a big deal out of it and trying to figure it out who it was about.
We’ll probably never know for sure who Green was talking about, but even if he wasn’t talking about Kuminga, a Kuminga trade feels likely.
As Green said, Kuminga wants to be an All-Star, and usually that comes with a high-scoring offensive role. But the Warriors need Kuminga to excel at role-player traits like catch-and-shoot threes and team defense, and he simply does not do those things well enough.
