Celtics

Steve Kerr believes Celtics fans ‘crossed a line’ with profane chants at Draymond Green

"I do think it rattled Draymond a little bit because that’s pretty extreme."

By Tom Westerholm

June 26, 2022

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The NBA Finals are an intense time, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t appreciate Celtics fans who chanted profanely at Draymond Green earlier this month.

In an appearance on the Point Forward podcast, Kerr said Celtics fans “crossed the line” by chanting things like “F— you, Draymond” at his star forward, noting that Green’s son D.J. was in the crowd.

“Like D.J., five years old, sweet kid, like the nicest kid … this sweet and innocent little guy and he’s got to sit there and watch as his dad gets cussed out by 20,000 drunk fans,” Kerr said, as transcribed by Heavy.com. “People don’t think of it in those terms when you’re watching from the outside. I do think it rattled Draymond a little bit because that’s pretty extreme.”

Kerr added his own suggestion for Celtics fans going forward.

“I’m all for booing guys, cheering for your own team,” Kerr said. “The appropriate cheer — if you want to go down that path — is ‘so-and-so sucks, so-and-so sucks.'”

Three quick thoughts:

1. It would be really hard for a kid to hear his father cursed out, and for a father to know his kid is hearing him get cursed out by 20,000 people. However Celtics fans feel about Green — or about the comments from Warriors players and coaches scolding their chants — Green does look sympathetic in that light.
2. On the other hand, Celtics fans are never shy about showing their animosity (just ask Kyrie Irving, who was the recipient of similarly profane chants). Green’s wife called out Celtics fans, but after Green clashed with the Celtics in Game 2, the chants were always coming. A safe way to ensure 5-year-old D.J. wouldn’t have heard the chants would have simply been to keep him home (or back at the hotel).
3. Importantly: Don’t tell Celtics fans the chanting worked in rattling Green if you want the chanting to stop.

Warriors players and coaches are well within their rights to complain on behalf of their teammate, but the NBA’s business model caters to the 20,000 chanting fans — not to players and their families (for better or worse). This is not a fight the Warriors are likely to win.

“I want fans to enjoy themselves,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver told WCVB shortly after the chants began. “Of course, as the league office, you want to see it done with respect for all the participants. But I get it. I love the energy Boston fans bring to the game.”