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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green apologized for punching former teammate Jordan Poole and said it’s time to move on from an incident that fractured the Warriors’ locker room more than two years ago.
Green made his latest move after Poole said he liked “most of the people there” when asked about the warm reception he received Saturday when he returned to the Warriors’ Chase Center in San Francisco as a member of the Washington Wizards. apology. .
Green posted a tweet in response to Poole’s comments, writing, “I’m truly sorry.”
“I’m responding because it’s been three years,” Green said Wednesday on “The Draymond Green & Baron Davis Show.” “It’s like, let’s move on. We’ve moved on. I’m really sorry. That sentence [by Poole] Kind of like asking for sympathy…continues to make me the bad guy. Keep going, bro. That’s it.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit him. But it happened. Let’s move on.”
A video from an October 2022 preseason practice was leaked in which Green and Poole exchanged words. Green walked over to Poole, who pushed Green. Green punched and kicked Poole.
Green later publicly apologized to Poole and his family. Green was fined by the Warriors and voluntarily left the team for a period of time, but did not miss any games and was not subject to any disciplinary action by the league.
The punching incident occurred in training camp after the Warriors won the NBA championship last season. They then lost in the Western Conference semifinals in the 2023 playoffs, and in June of that year, Poole was traded to Washington for Chris Paul.
“I kind of went back and forth on this,” Green said on the podcast. “I know I’m wrong, but you can’t call a guy a bad name and push him without getting hit. So, sometimes I sit in those two spaces. Like, the reality is, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle Somewhere, right? If anything, I should restrain him, it’s just a natural reaction.
“I think, for him, you just remind yourself of that moment. Like when you do that, you just remind yourself of that moment. You just gotta keep going, keep going, man. Gotta let go. “
Green was suspended for five games last season for choking Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and then indefinitely for punching Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face. Missed 12 games.
During the latter layoff, Green underwent counseling and had mandatory Zoom calls with executives from the NBA, Warriors, players union and his agent to return to play. Green told ESPN that it helped him become a “different” player and person this season. He said he has two therapists and a sports psychologist, but the check-in calls really help him.
Green has eight technical fouls this season but has been ejected only once — compared to four last season.
“I want people to say, ‘Man, it’s a little dark here. But look where it goes from there. It’s because he takes responsibility,'” Green told ESPN. “No matter how I feel about Rudy’s situation, Nurkic’s situation…Jordan Poole [incident]I will endure any situation. I took responsibility and moved on.
“They were my fault. I needed to get better and I failed. We all failed. But I’m not a failure.”
Green suffered a left leg injury at the start of Saturday’s game against Washington. He missed Wednesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings and will be reevaluated next week.
