Steve Kerr’s arrival changed the course of the Golden State Warriors‘ history forever. They became the most feared dynasty in the NBA, and one of the greatest teams in the history of the league.

Kerr has now established himself as one of the finest tacticians in the league. He even coached his way up to Team USA and could go down as one of the most successful coaches of all time.

Notably, one of Kerr’s major adjustments was to trust Draymond Green and keep him in the starting lineup even after David Lee was back to full strength. Even so, Green recently admitted that he didn’t actually respect him as a tactician until this year.

It Took 11 Years For Draymond Green To Respect Steve Kerr

“I can be 100 percent honest with you, I never understood or respected Steve Kerr’s brilliance as much as I have after this year,” Green said on Patrick Beverley’s podcast. “And I think a large part of it was my immaturity– The more I learned about the game, the more Steve Kerr’s brilliance is so evident to me.”

“This dude, he always knows the right adjustment,” continued Green. “We beat Sacramento (Kings) in this series, we really should’ve lost in Sac–Steph Curry in that Game 7 was obviously great, he is incredible. Nuts. He wasn’t letting us lose.”

“Steph didn’t let us lose Game 7, but Steve got us through every other one of those games with adjustments,” Green added. “He was just making adjustments and then obviously you gotta go play but those adjustments, he got us through that series and then Steph did what he did (in) Game 7 and sent them home.”

“I walk into film and he’s just sitting there, legs crossed, sit back in his chair, leaned back– and he just has a smirk on his face,” Green added. “We just lost the f***ing game and he just sits back there with his legs crossed with a little smirk on his face. I walk in like, ‘What up coach? What up? Coach, I saw this. I watched the film.’ I come in with my notes and s***… And he’s like, ‘Yeah they were doing this, but I got this adjustment.’ Man, he is a mastermind.”

“And I think one other important trait that Steve has is he’s so confident and certain of himself that he ain’t afraid to let one of his guys take the wheel,” continued the power forward. “Whether that’s me, whether that’s something Steph thinks– I’m telling you, man, dude is a mastermind. And it really took me until my 11th year to really be able to understand it.”

Green and Kerr have now won four NBA championships and one Olympic gold medal, also developing a strong bond in the meantime. Maybe, that’s worthy of a little respect.