Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green has finally broken his silence on his practice altercation with teammate Jordan Poole.
Draymond Green: "I was wrong for my actions that took place on Wednesday. For that, I have apologized to my team. I have apologized to Jordan."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 8, 2022
Draymond Green: "There is a huge embarrassment that comes with that not only for myself with the own committing the action. But the embarrassment that Jordan has to deal with, the team has to deal with, the organization has to deal with and his family."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 8, 2022
Draymond Green: "That is the task at hand to rebuild trust in our locker room and pull everything back together in order to repeat and defend a championship. Although that is the least of my worries right now, that has to stay at the forefront."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 8, 2022
News of the altercation was initially reported on Wednesday night, with footage of the incident leaking early on Friday. The Michigan State University product also made it clear that he didn’t appreciate that the footage was leaked.
Draymond’s punch on Jordan Poole pic.twitter.com/lsvlCUwZcC
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 7, 2022
Draymond Green on what he thought when the video leaked: “I thought it was bulls**t that it leaked.” Says other videos of practices aren’t leaked.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 8, 2022
Green has taken a lot of heat from lots of people since the video started to make the rounds, as people were able to finally see what had really occurred.
Both Green and Poole are currently up for contract extensions from the Warriors, and while some people have assumed that played a role in the altercation, the four-time champ shot that idea down on Saturday by stating that he doesn’t “count other people’s pockets.”
Draymond Green said fight with Jordan Poole had "absolutely nothing to do" with contract extensions: "I can assure you I don't count other people's pockets."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 8, 2022
Green also mentioned that he has been dealing with some things in his personal life. Those issues certainly could’ve played a big role in escalating things on Wednesday.
As a result of the fight, Green said that he’s going to take some time and step away from the team for the next few days.
In aftermath of practice altercation, Warriors' Draymond Green says he is going to step away from the team for the next few days. Green apologized to teammates on Thursday, publicly Saturday, and will take some more time to recalibrate.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 8, 2022
The road ahead
The Warriors have three more games remaining in the preseason. They will face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday and Denver Nuggets on Friday.
One can only wonder where the team goes from here. It will be very important for Green to regain his teammates’ trust throughout the course of the season. If he doesn’t, then the Warriors will have a really hard time repeating as champs.
Green and Poole were both key parts of Golden State’s title run last season, and contract negotiations between the Warriors and Green and Poole are certainly something to keep an eye on for the near future.
This incident could easily derail the team and mark the end of Golden State’s dominant era or bring the team closer together and give it lots of fuel for its title defense this season.
