Draymond Green used the closing minutes of his Tuesday podcast to settle accounts with Austin Rivers, after the former NBA guard called Green's recent comments about Steve Kerr's coaching system 'ridiculous' and said he was 'bewildered' that Green had complained about being asked to suppress his offence in Golden State.
Green spent close to six minutes on the topic, framing the entire backlash as a misread of a podcast that was three minutes of praise for Kerr and roughly fifteen seconds of mild critique. From there, he turned the saw on Rivers personally.
"I just find it interesting that a guy who was the 10th pick in my draft, I was 35, who's on his second act, I'm still on act one, would say such things," Green said, before twisting the knife on Rivers's reputation as a former scorer.
"Daymond's never been a scorer. Well, Austin, you and I averaged the same amount of points in high school when you were a scorer," Green said, mocking the idea that a backup guard who bounced between teams was qualified to lecture a four-time champion on offensive sacrifice.
Then came the line that has been clipped across social media since the episode dropped.
"The guy received the biggest bailout in US history prior to President Trump bailing out the airlines," Green said. "Austin Rivers received the biggest bailout in NBA history, excuse me, in world history, in US history, when his dad gave him 42 million dollars."
The reference was to Rivers's 2015 trade from New Orleans to the Los Angeles Clippers, where his father Doc Rivers was the head coach and team president. Green made a point of insisting the dig was not aimed at Doc, who he said he respected for taking care of his son, before adding pointedly that he hoped one day to bankroll his own children at a similar level.
"I tip my hat to Doc. I pray that one day, I mean, it won't be 42 million then because the NBA has gone up so much, but I pray that I can give DJ 200 million or give Deuce 250 mill. I pray that I can do that one day," Green said.
Green also pushed back on the broader premise that any quibble with a coach equates to a player turning on him. He argued that every NBA player carries some private gripe with the men who coach them, no matter how successful the partnership has been.
"You can talk to any basketball player in the world. They're going to have a gripe about their coach," Green said. "Some great, all things could be great. They're going to say one thing negative about the coach. Not negative, but just like something that they felt could be better for them. That's every player in the world."
He singled out LeBron James and Stephen Curry as obvious examples, and said even Kerr would have private gripes about Phil Jackson if asked. The point, Green argued, is that fifteen seconds of honest reflection should not become world news.
Green closed by suggesting Rivers focus his energy on a viral one-on-one challenge from streetball star Nas the V, who has been calling him out for months.
"You should focus on that more, and the 24-hour fitness runs that you want to go get your work off in," Green said. He then warned Rivers off the matchup entirely. "I hope he don't take on that challenge. I've watched some of that one-on-one stuff and he's smart. Don't go play Nas. He gonna body him like crazy."
The four-time champion ended the segment with a half-smile and a stay-in-your-lane send-off, leaving Rivers to decide whether to keep the back-and-forth going on Dan Patrick's show. Either way, Green made it clear the floor in this exchange is his.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/draymond-green-austin-rivers-bailout-coach-kerr-comments-response-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
