Former Warriors teammate explains why Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole

Draymond Green might not be the flashiest player in the NBA, but he’s played a huge role in the Golden State Warriors‘ success over the past decade or so. They would’ve never gotten this far without him.

Green’s impact goes way beyond the stat sheet. It goes beyond his pesky defense, his basketball IQ, or his elite playmaking. He’s also a vocal leader and motivator.

That’s why former Warriors player Patrick McCaw claims he was somewhat surprised to see him punch Jordan Poole. However, he still understood where he was coming from at the time.

Patrick McCaw Explains Draymond Green’s Leadership

“I was surprised by it. Draymond probably gets the worst rap,” McCaw told NBA Buzz. “It’s because of the passion that he cares about the game for. It’s more than just the game he cares about, he cares if his teammates are as passionate as him.”

“You don’t have to play with that energy, you don’t have to yell and scream like he does, but he wants to make sure you’re on the same page as him,” continued McCaw. “Like, ‘Do you care about it as much as I do?’ Once he senses maybe that feeling that you don’t care as much or not playing up to your potential, he’s gonna almost instantly get on you about it.”

“And of course, the way he probably goes about it isn’t the best, but you probably get the point faster when somebody yells or screams or gets in your chest,” McCaw added. “He gets a bad rap for how he does it, but you can’t really take that away from him. That’s who he is. The energy, the effort, it’s every night. The passion: that’s the misinterpretation for people. How he does it and how he expresses it. For him, it works.”

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Of course, that doesn’t give him the right to punch anyone in the face, let alone a teammate. But this wouldn’t be the first time someone questions Poole’s attitude, and it didn’t exactly improve after this incident either.