Draymond Green has become a better leader for the Warriors, largely because of assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse’s impact during the 2024-25 NBA season.
One day after explaining his heated interaction with Stackhouse in Golden State’s 95-85 Game 1 win over the Houston Rockets in the 2025 Western Conference first-round playoff series, Green detailed how the assistant coach – and former 18-year NBA veteran – has passed on his wisdom.
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WATCH HERE“Stackhouse has been huge for me – just the relatability,” Green told co-host Baron Davis on Monday’s episode of "The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis." “Then also, Stackhouse has a crazy presence. He’s an extreme alpha. You know, real alphas respect and appreciate other real alphas. He’s helped me so much because, in a sense, he was a lot like me. So he’s helping me grow from a 50-year-old standpoint, like, ‘I was him (Green).’
“There are times when I said something during the season, and he’ll come up to me and be like, ‘Yo, that was great. Now what you do is go and build them up.’ And I’m like, ‘Ahh.’”
The 6-foot-6 Stackhouse was a two-time NBA All-Star and averaged 16.9 points over 970 career games. Similar to Green, he was known to be an “alpha” leader rooted in toughness and communication on and off the court.
Stackhouse has carried his robust experience to his Bay Area employer of the last seven months. Game 1’s heated exchange was just the latest example of Green and his assistant coach’s dynamic relationship, and the four-time Golden State NBA champion couldn’t be more thankful for Stackhouse’s presence.
Golden State Warriors
“He’s just helping me become a better leader, helping me see things,” Green said. “Stack doesn’t do much with our offense; he does a lot of defense. But he’s a great offensive mind. … The way he sees the game, I think Stackhouse is going to be an incredible head coach in the NBA, because he’s going to have the respect of players (and) he knows how to play the game.”
Green also hopes that Stackhouse will remain with the Warriors for the foreseeable future. However, he is well aware that other organizations love poaching Golden State’s top assistants, such as Kenny Atkinson, a current finalist for Coach of the Year with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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SIGN UP “He’s been huge,” Green concluded about Stackhouse. “If some of these people are smart, they’re going to try to hire him. But I hope they don’t pull him away from us, because he’s great for us, man. Golly, I hope they don’t pull him away from us.”
Regardless, Green and the Warriors will lean on top minds like Stackhouse throughout the rest of the playoffs.
