Whether verbal or physical, altercations between teammates come with the territory of sports at all levels, from peewee to professional. However, there is a level of respect that must be maintained, and the line is different for each team. It’s clear that Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green crossed that line when he had a physical altercation with his teammate Jordan Poole during practice on Wednesday, which the team confirmed on Thursday.
Known for his fiery and passionate temper, Green, 32, had several mid-game verbal arguments with teammates that were caught on camera during his tenure with the Warriors, not to mention his reputation during practices. But he crossed the line on Wednesday when things got physical, and he will face discipline from the Warriors.
Stephen Curryhead coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers spoke about the incident on Thursday, and here’s a breakdown of the details they shared.
Green apologized
Myers said Green apologized to the team on Thursday for his behavior.
“It’s the NBA. It’s professional sports. These things happen. Nobody likes it. We don’t condone it, but it happened,” Myers said. “Draymond apologized to the team this morning. Jordan was there in the room. I was there in the room. The team, the coaches, the players, and we heard it.”
Discipline will be managed internally
Myers and Kerr said any disciplinary action against Green would be handled internally, and Kerr said Green was not in practice on Thursday and would not attend practice on Friday. Kerr expects Green to be back in practice on Saturday.
“As for any suspension, punishment, fine, we’ll handle that internally,” Myers said. “It’s going to be an internal process.”
“As a coach, whenever something happens, we try to deal with things internally,” Kerr said. “[Green] didn’t train today, won’t be here tomorrow. I expect him to come back on Saturday and get back to it.”
Warriors refute Poole attitude report
Following news of the altercation between Green and Poole on Wednesday, a tweet from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports suggested the incident may stem from a change in Poole’s attitude as he negotiates a potential extension with the Warriors. Kerr, Myers and Curry flatly denied the report, saying Poole had been great during camp so far.
“The specific tweet posted yesterday about insinuating that JP’s attitude or something has changed since he’s been in this training camp or even whatever time they’re talking about. That’s absolutely BS,” Curry said. “Andrew [Iguodala] addressed it yesterday with his tweet, and we can leave it at that. JP was great.”
“Jordan has been fantastic throughout camp,” Kerr said. “There was a report I was made aware of last night that someone said Jordan had an attitude at camp – nothing could be further from the truth. He’s been fantastic. So disappointing to see misinformation out there, but I wanted to make sure we set the record straight on that.”
“Some of it, I would say from my perspective, I don’t think – and more importantly you should ask the players who you talk to – I don’t think it has to do with who gets paid and who isn’t” , Myers said. “I don’t feel it. Draw your own conclusions. It’s probably more important what the players think about it than what I think, but I don’t see it.”
Myers expressed his disappointment in Green
Following the incident, Myers said he spoke with Green and expressed disappointment, but was optimistic Green and the team would be able to move on.
“Draymond is one of my favorite players,” Myers said. “I told him that, but I just said, ‘You’re better than that. Don’t do that. Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t put yourself in that position.’ Always love the person. Don’t like what he did, but still love the guy.
“He’s complicated, but he’s a good person. He’s a good person. He is. I’ve seen him. I’ve seen a lot of things he’s done. Yesterday wasn’t there. “One of them. In this job that I’m in, they’re men. He knows what he has to do. He has to make amends, and he started with that this morning. I’m sure ‘he will do it.
Warriors seek to move forward
Both Curry and Myers said they thought the team would be able to get over the incident with relative ease. They have dealt with other situations in the past, including the on-field explosion between Green and Kevin Durant in 2018 which resulted in Green’s suspension, and Myers feels that makes them more equipped to deal with the current situation.
“It’s one of the best vibes we’ve had in my 12 years here, as far as camp, health, sanity and camaraderie,” Myers said. “But, it’s unfortunate, and I’m not going to deny that. It will take time to get through it, but we’re going to get through it and move on. And I’m confident we will. We have a good team , we have good leadership. We have guys who have been here a long time. And it’s not our first thing that happens, our first feeling of adversity. We’ve been through this before. I don’t like to pass over there, but it’s part of the NBA and it’s part of the sport and that’s kind of what it is.”
“The atmosphere today in practice was great,” Curry said Thursday. “Trying to take advantage of this week and make basketball out of it, our prep for the season. It’s obviously an unfortunate situation that – you know, being asked about it – a situation that could have been avoided, but there’s has a lot of faith in the fabric of our team, who we are, who we know these two guys are, and how we’re going to get through this and try to keep playing good basketball, and that’s part of it, again , of the culture we’ve built here. I like how we reacted today. We had great practice, good energy. Try to keep that as a goal as we go forward.
Give the Warriors credit for tackling the problem head-on. They could have easily declined to discuss the situation, but they did provide some clarity and insight into the team’s headspace after the incident. For now, everyone seems ready to move on, but we’ll have to monitor the situation as the Warriors prepare to begin their title defense, starting with NBA opening night Oct. 18 against the Los Angeles Lakers.