Draymond Green offered another apology over the weekend for the punch he threw at former Warriors teammate Jordan Poole during training camp in October of 2022, but he also indicated that he wants to stop talking about the incident, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
The latest apology came after Poole and the Wizards visited Golden State on Saturday. Asked about his relationship with his former team following a positive reception from the Bay Area crowd, Poole said he loves “most of those guys over there.” Green understood the message from Poole and posted “I really am sorry” on social media.
“I responded because it’s been three years,” Green said Wednesday on the podcast he hosts with Baron Davis. “Like, let’s move on. We’ve moved on. I really am sorry. That statement [by Poole] was kind of like it was looking for some sympathy … kind of keep on make me out to be the bad guy. Move on, bro. It is what it is. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have punched him. But it happened. Let’s move on.”
The punch marked a turning point for the Warriors, who were coming off an NBA title in 2022. They weren’t able to repair the chemistry of the team, and Poole was traded to Washington after the season.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- DeMar DeRozan came to Sacramento to play for Mike Brown, but the Kings fired their head coach in late December. In an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, DeRozan said it’s a first for him in his long NBA career. “That was the first time I ever dealt with the firing of a coach in the middle of the season,” DeRozan said. “It’s new for a lot of the guys who played for him for multiple years. It’s much different from my standpoint of still being new having to adjust to that. It’s hard to process it when you’re still going through it.”
- Suns coach Mike Budenholzer doesn’t believe “benched” is the proper word to use with veteran center Jusuf Nurkic (Twitter video link from Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). Nurkic was removed from the starting lineup on January 6 and hasn’t played since the following night. He’s currently getting back into game shape in Phoenix following a bout with the flu. “It’s a long season,” Budenholzer said. “He didn’t play a couple of games and now he’s been sick. He’s home reconditioning. We’ll see how he comes through when we go back.”
- The Lakers have relaxed their minutes restriction for Dorian Finney-Smith, whose playing time has been limited by an ankle issue since he arrived in a trade with Brooklyn last month, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Coach J.J. Redick talked Tuesday about the difficulty of getting Finney-Smith comfortable with his new teammates. “It’s been hard because he’s been on a minutes restriction since we got him, so just having to kind of navigate that and try to save him, save those like four or five minutes for the end of the game, it’s been challenging,” Redick said. “We got word [on Tuesday] that we can up his minutes from 20 to 24. So that helps, that helps.”
Draymond wants to stop talking…OK. clear as mud for a guy who never stops yapping on court and now a podcaster who is also looking into his future in media. For what it’s worth I think Draymond would be a good coach if he wanted to go in that direction.
Oh, I almost forgot….Man lakers stink.
Yeah, I agree. It’s gonna keep coming up. Nothing you can do about it.
He wants to remember his championships that were in the past, well people are going to remember his punch that was in the past.
Do you want to talk about today? Then don’t bring up your championship rings and winning legacy.., because they were in the past.
Moody playing crunch time minutes and still can’t stay with his man. Monk takes him to the hole and scores easily.
He’s honestly a PF in a SG/SF body. Imagine if he was 6’10” or taller
I never say this, but the refs sucked in this game in the last five minutes of GS at SAC.
Good for the Kings and a good win. They really showed up, played well, and their defense looked really good.
Double teamed Curry often, closed out on the three, and also made Wiggins take real difficult shots.
Maybe this will help them start on a little run?
Quickie note, I like Santos. His defense I think is pretty good on an individual basis. The couple spots I saw him and paid attention were worth noting.
Really wish they would clean up the turnovers LOL
Refs always seem terrible in the Kings/Dubs games. Guys are definitely out there playing harder. Maybe effort is too scary for today’s crews lol.
Kings have a rough stretch to get through here – next 7 games are Nuggets, Knicks, Nets, 6ers, Thunder, Twolves, and Magic. If they can stay hot and get through with 4-5 wins they’ll have a nice reward of an 8 game stretch that includes the Pels 3 TIMES, Blazers, Warriors, Jazz, Hornets and a hobbled Mavericks. If they want to make a serious push, now is the time.
OK, one more. DeMar DeRozan should not be shooting the three. He doesn’t really shoot the ball in an upward motion with decent arc.
He throws the ball from the top of his head and the accuracy of that motion diminishes the further out you go from the rim.
He has his midrange jumper dialed in because his strength allows him to use that unorthodox shooting motion and succeeded a high percentage.
But an almost horizontal, throwing towards that basket often results in a flatter shot and low percentage.
Wiggins shoots much the same way and is a little more successful, though I don’t see how he does it. Andrew’s shot is also very flat, but he sure is shooting the ball well this season.
Most good shooters from three have a vertical shot and their hand “reaches into the cookie jar on the top shelf” after releasing the ball. You basketball junkies know what I’m talking about.
I get that the dude wants to move on, but it wasn’t just a punch he threw. Literally got nose to nose with Poole. Poole pushed him away, whether that is grounds for a fist fight is up to your personal opinion I guess. But it looked far more like a sucker punch than a square up with a guy and trade blows. Shouldn’t have thrown the punch if you didn’t want to deal with the repercussions.
Green definitely received preferential treatment regarding that situation.
What we don’t know is that probably the entire locker room quietly condoned the act.
Sure It wasn’t right and Green should’ve been suspended 25 games to start the year but because of the complexities of that locker room at that time, they decided to do something different. So be it it’s over.
I do notice that Jordan Poole has never voiced disagreement with how the Warriors punished Green. Not a peep.
Poole kept quiet and so they dealt with it in house. Fine it’s over.
Draymond still doesn’t get it…
Without Steph he’d be just another big who can’t shoot…
His defense and his knowledge of how offense works is first rate to be sure. I don’t like the man, but I give him that.
The Warriors win zero rings the last 10 years without Draymond Green. Steph Curry is not the same player without Draymond Green. In fact, in both cases the Same could be said about Klay Thompson. Steph Curry is not the same player and the Warriors don’t win without Klay Thompson.
You put Curry on another team he wins at least a title… Could even give MJ and LBJ a run for most titles…
You put Draymond on any other team without Steph… Zero titles and never gets a max contract…
Right place right time for a role player to look better than they actually are… There are a lot of role players who know their role and play intelligently in the NBA… The Celtics have a number of them…
Not many of them get suspended on a yearly basis for dumb stuff whilst playing with a generational talent…
15 comments on this article and 12 are from me? Sorry guys, I’m pretty disappointed in the loss to the Kings tonight, and of course on a bigger scale, the crumbling of my beloved Warriors. It’s not fun.
Makes me think back to those pre-Magic years of West Coast basketball, with highlight of Warriors championship with Barry and Seattle’s too. Many years of competitive and losing basketball. So, I appreciate what we recently got with the Warriors and won’t be too upset as the pendulum swings the other way.
Dynasties always crumble. The Warriors were never my team but Curry and (though you guys hate him for now) Thompson were two of my favorite players over the last 15 years. Even Green, I never liked the guy but he’s a key part of the history and a future Hall of Famer. I looked forward to watching Warriors playoff games against the Rockets and Finals series against the Cavaliers.
Look at the bright side. The Warriors should get a good pick in a loaded draft if they play their cards right, maybe even luck out and get a top 5 pick if the ping pong balls fall their way.
Ooh and how could I forget Walton and the Trailblazers! Funny thing in grad school, our inter mural team played Wally Walker’s business school team and Walton’s law school team. Strange times.
““I responded because it’s been three years,” Green said Wednesday on the podcast he hosts with Baron Davis. “Like, let’s move on. We’ve moved on. I really am sorry. That statement [by Poole] was kind of like it was looking for some sympathy … kind of keep on make me out to be the bad guy. Move on, bro. It is what it is. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have punched him. But it happened. Let’s move on.””
This sounds like someone without an ounce of remorse. Classless. He punched Poole but he’s mad that Poole is still holding him accountable. Poole didn’t even mention Draymond or the punch but Mr. Sensitive tries to paint Poole in a negative light (“looking for some sympathy”) because he never has to face any consequences for anything. Least likeable player in the league. It sucks that we’re going to have to deal with this clown when he retires and joins the media.
He just still doesn’t get the gravity of what he has done…
All of these fines and suspensions have been meaningless… The behaviour hasn’t changed…
Draymond “The Backpack” Green
That punch was definitely the beginning of a slippery slope for the Warriors. Obviously it was a killer to the teams chemistry, but what gets overlooked is how much the front office and Steve Kerr botched handling it. They flat out lied about it, messed up the cover up, and gave preferential treatment to the guy who should have had the book thrown at him.
They’ve been treading water since.