The Golden State Warriors, who were defending champions at the time, experienced an unexpected end to their season when they were eliminated in the Western Conference Semifinals by the Los Angeles Lakers. This premature exit from the playoffs may have been influenced by a lack of team chemistry, possibly due to a strange event that occurred during the offseason.
Despite the season had not even started, an internal issue emerged within the locker room. The leaked video of Draymond Green punching teammate Jordan Poole definitely had a significant impact on the dynamic. Injuries played a role in the struggles they had, but there is no denying that something felt odd last season.
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Poole is no longer in the team following the trade that sent him to the Washington Wizards in exchange for the experienced point guard Chris Paul. There is still a ton of uncertainty around what prompted Green to punch Poole the way he did, albeit he now provided an insight of how he got to the point of having a violent reaction.
Warriors’ Draymond Green on the Jordan Poole incident
The incident between Green and Poole not only caused a physical altercation but also strained the team’s cohesion and camaraderie. The repercussions of this altercation reverberated throughout the season. It was a critical event that significantly disrupted the team’s chemistry, and its consequences could be felt on and off the court.
“I don’t just hit people. Dialogue of course happens over time, and you usually ain’t just triggered by something that fast, to that degree. This is a team, ain’t nobody on my team triggering me in an instant. We know stuff that you don’t say amongst men. We know things that you have to stand on”, Green said on the podcast hosted by Patrick Beverley.
