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Ohm Youngmisuk
SACRAMENTO, California — Warriors of the Golden State star Green Draymond apologized for hitting a former teammate Jordan Poole and says it’s time to move on from the incident that fractured the Warriors locker room more than two years ago.
Green’s latest apology came after Poole said Saturday he liked “most of those guys over there” when asked about the warm welcome he received upon his return to the Chase Center – the home of the Warriors in San Francisco – as a member of the team. Wizards of Washington.
Green posted a tweet in response to Poole’s comments that read: “I’m so sorry. »
“I responded because it’s been three years,” Green said Wednesday on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.” “Like, let’s move on.” We have evolved. I’m really sorry. That statement (from Poole) was a bit like she was looking for sympathy… sort of like she wanted to continue to make me the bad guy. Move on, bro. That’s how it is.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit him. But it happened. Let’s move on.”
A video was leaked during a preseason practice in October 2022 during which Green and Poole exchanged words. Green headed toward Poole, who pushed Green. Green hit Poole.
Green later publicly apologized to Poole and his family. Green was fined by the Warriors and voluntarily left the team for a time, but did not miss any games or face any discipline from the league.
The punch took place during the team’s camp after the Warriors won the NBA championship the previous season. They then lost in the Western Conference semifinals in the 2023 playoffs, and Poole was traded to Washington in a deal for ChrisPaul in June of the same year.
“I kind of go back and forth with it,” Green said on the podcast. “I know I was wrong, but you can’t call a man the B word and push him without getting punched either. So I sometimes sit in both of these spaces. In reality, the answer is probably somewhere in between, right? I shouldn’t have knocked him out like that. On the contrary, I should have locked him up. It was sort of just a natural reaction.
“I think, for him, you kind of bring that up on yourself. When you do this, you simply evoke that moment about yourself. You just gotta move on and keep moving, man. I have to let it go.
Last season, Green was suspended five games for rolling Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, then was suspended indefinitely for hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic opposite, ultimately missing 12 games.
During this latest suspension, Green underwent counseling and mandatory Zoom calls with executives from the NBA, the Warriors, the players’ union and his agent in order to return to play. Green told ESPN it helped him become a “different” player and person this season. He said he’s had two therapists and a sports psychologist, but the check-in calls really helped him.
This season, Green has committed eight technical fouls but only one expulsion, compared to four last season.
“I want people to say, ‘Man, it was a little dark in here.’ But then look where it went from there. And that’s because he took responsibility,” Green told ESPN. “Regardless of how I felt about the Rudy situation, the Nurkic situation…the Jordan Poole incident, any situation, I took it on the chin. I took responsibility for it and moved forward.
“It’s my fault. I needed to be better and I failed. We all fail. But I’m not a failure.
Green injured his left calf early in Saturday’s game against Washington. He missed Wednesday’s game at Kings of Sacramentoand it will be re-evaluated next week.