Why Draymond Green called out coach Steve Kerr before USA's comeback vs. Serbia in Olympic basketball semifinal

Bryan Murphy

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Why Draymond Green called out coach Steve Kerr before USA's comeback vs. Serbia in Olympic basketball semifinal image

Draymond Green was just like the rest of the country watching the thriller that was the United States vs. Serbia Olympic basketball semifinal — stressed. 

The Warriors forward and two-time Olympic gold medalist posted his emotions on X, formerly Twitter, throughout the nail-biting contest on Thursday afternoon, going from frustration to jubilation as the Americans stormed back from down 17 points to Nikola Jokic and Serbia to advance to the gold medal game. 

Green has always been someone to freely speak his mind, and he was doing just that on his social media account. He even took a couple of shots at Team USA head coach Steve Kerr in the process, giving out some advice on rotations and substitutes. 

The ironic part is that Kerr coaches Green with Golden State in the NBA. So while Kerr was doing his best to push the right buttons for a win, one of his own players was critiquing him on Twitter. 

It's doubtful that Green meant any harm by the messages he posted. It's just humorous to see him call out his own coach, who elected to not bring the 2016 and 2021 Olympic gold medalist to Paris for a third go-around with the national team. 

Here is more on what Green said about Kerr on social media. 

USA OLYMPICS MEDAL COUNT: Overall table | U.S. medal tracker | Who has won gold?

Why Draymond Green called out Steve Kerr 

When the United States found itself down by double digits, Green gave his thoughts on what the coaching staff should do for the rest of the game. He felt as though Kerr and Co. needed to get rid of their current rotations, while also giving Kevin Durant more minutes. 

There's no shot at all that Kerr or anyone on the United States coaching staff saw what Green was posting, but it just so happened that they seemed to listen to his advance.

MORE: Full stats, box score from USA vs. Serbia Olympic semifinal

After Green sent his tweet about the rotations, the USA basically scrapped the substitutions altogether and rode with the group of Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker for the remainder of the contest. The lone switch that came was when Kerr subbed Embiid back in for Anthony Davis.

He let that group of five ride and it worked, as the United States outscored Serbia 32-15 in the final quarter. Curry, James and Durant scored the final 13 points for the team, willing the squad to victory — much to the appreciation of Green and the rest of the American basketball fanatics. 

Just like the rest of hoop heads watching from home, Green will be ready to see the United States put its gold medal on the line when it takes on France in the final. That game is set for Saturday, Aug. 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET. 

MORE: Ranking all 108 U.S. men's basketball Olympians since the 1992 Dream Team

Bryan Murphy

Bryan Murphy Photo

Bryan Murphy joined The Sporting News in 2022 as the NHL/Canada content producer. Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, he spent time in college as a beat reporter covering the men’s ice hockey team.