The 2022-23 NBA season didnāt get off to a good start for the Golden State Warriors. They made the news for all the wrong reasons when veteran leader Draymond Green sucker-punched rising star Jordan Poole during practice.
It all happened on the verge of Poole signing a lucrative contract extension, so it led to all sorts of speculation about the team potentially moving on from Green. That didnāt happen, and both eventually agreed to bury the hatchet.
But the internet and the fans never forget, and it always felt like Green owed his people an explanation. Now, months after that heated altercation, the former Defensive Player of the Year finally offered some clarity.
NBA News: Draymond Green Explains Why He Punched Jordan Poole In Practice
āThere are times where you enter the basketball gym and itās a sanctuary for a lot of us,ā Green told ESPN analystStephen A. Smith. āYou walk on that court and you lose yourself in the game you lose yourself and for that hour, hour and a half you lose yourself in the game. And there are times on the court where it just donāt do that. That day, that week, I was dealing with something in my life so heavy. I donāt wanna share exactly what that is, but that day I wasnāt able to lose myself in that practice. And so because I was not able to lose myself in that practice, everything that was going on in camp, Iām already on ten.ā
Green quickly apologized and while Poole may never fully trust him outside of the court again, theyāve looked as good as always when theyāre sharing the floor this season. Then again, those incidents are simply unacceptable, especially coming from someone who was supposed to be his mentor and veteran leader.
