The NBA’s off-court past is rife with violent incidents that are upsetting to think about but often provide some understanding. Words were exchanged between the two teammates at the Warriors’ training camp in October before “DrayMagic” Draymond Green shoved Jordan “Poole Party” Poole and attacked him in a public brawl.
Green missed the remainder of practice, was absent from the squad for a week, and was eventually assessed a fine by the Warriors. The four-time All-Star and NBA champion was present on opening night and had a fantastic regular season average of 6.8 assists, 8.5 points, and 7.2 rebounds.
Why did Draymond Green hit Jordan Poole?
The Golden State Warriors head coach, Kerr, has said that Draymond Green’s punch at training camp had an impact on the entire season as the team works to deal with the fallout from the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident. Green recently claimed that if it hadn’t occurred, the team would still be in the playoffs. However, why did it occur?
The Warriors are still treading carefully more than seven months after the incident, as evidenced by Green’s admission that he is still trying to win back the team’s trust and Poole’s flippant evasion of the subject. Steve Kerr clearly pinpointed the overall root cause of the Golden State Warriors failure to defeat the LA Lakers in the semifinals of the Western Conference.
Happy birthday Jordan Poole. Draymond Green has a present for you! pic.twitter.com/GdN3OpUt14
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) June 19, 2023
The Warriors’ coach attributed their 11-30 road record and foul-prone defense to a lack of trust that never returned following the incident in which Draymond Green hit Jordan Poole. “There’s no hiding from it — the incident with Draymond and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that,” Kerr said in his exit interview on Tuesday. “It’s hard for that not to impact a team.”
To avoid situations like these from hurting their chances of winning the NBA Finals in the future, according to Kerr, the Warriors must close the gap between their older players like Stephen Curry, Green, and Klay Thompson, and their younger players like Jonathan Kuminga, Poole, and Moses Moody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZJvhPzpUA&pp=ygUdSm9yZGFuIFBvb2xlLiBEcmF5bW9uZCBHcmVlbiA%3D
Warriors anticipate Green and Poole to play title-winning next season
The Golden State Warriors are confident that Draymond Green and Jordan Poole will be able to play together once more next season as the former is near the end of his contract. The NBA team entered the previous year as the defending champions, but their preseason training was hampered by an incident involving the two players listed above.
Green struck the 23-year-old in the face during a fierce argument between the two. According to Green and those in the Warriors organization, the incident seriously hurt the squad and to some extent jeopardized Green’s authority as team captain.
The Warriors reportedly believe both players can play together on what they anticipate to be a cohesive group next season, despite the fact that it may take some time for the locker room scar to heal if it even ever does.
