Footage emerged on Friday of Warriors forward Draymond Green appearing to punch Jordan Poole following a heated exchange between the pair in Wednesday's pre-season practice session; General manager Bob Myer confirmed Green had apologised to the rest of the team
Tuesday 18 October 2022 08:30, UK
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has apologised to the team following an altercation in practice with team-mate Jordan Poole.
The incident occurred on Wednesday with footage emerging on Friday of Green appearing to punch Poole after the two came chest-to-chest during a heated exchange. The pair were then separated quickly, and the Warriors halted practice after the skirmish.
On Thursday, Golden State general manager Bob Myers told reporters Green expressed his sorrow for the incident and then departed the facility as the defending NBA champions practiced without him.
"Everybody's fine," Myers said. "Jordan practiced [on Thursday], Draymond didn't.
"Look, it's the NBA. Professional sports, these things happen. Nobody likes it, we don't condone it, but it happened.
"Draymond apologised to the team. Jordan was there in the room, I was in the room, the team, the coaches, players - and we heard that."
Still to be determined is how Green will be disciplined for the incident, although Myers said he did not think the punishment would include missing any games.
"As far as any suspension, punishment, fine, we're going handle that internally," Myers said. "I understand you might have questions on that, but that's going to be an internal process."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr expects Green to return to the team on Saturday, with Friday serving as a day off for the squad. Kerr praised Poole's approach during camp as well.
"Jordan has been fantastic throughout camp," Kerr said. "Someone put out there that Jordan had an attitude in camp, nothing can be further from the truth.
"He's been fantastic. Disappointing to see misinformation out there but I wanted to make sure I set the record straight on that. Everything else we will handle internally and go from there."
NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry said he did not know what triggered the issue between Green and Poole and noted "it is possible to get through things like this," and called it his job not to let it break the team. He also added Green's nature is an asset to the team.
"[One of Green's] superpowers is bringing his fire, competitiveness and voice," Curry said. "It's [the apology] necessary but you'd have to ask every guy individually how they received it, JP especially.
"The vibe today in practice was great, trying to take advantage of this week and make it about basketball and our preparation for the season.
"It's obviously an unfortunate situation getting asked about it and a situation that could have been avoided but there's a lot of trust in the fabric of our team, who we are, who we know those two guys to be and how we'll get through it and try to continue to make it about playing great basketball.
"The personal dynamics and stuff will work themselves out, that's part of the culture that we've built here. I like how we responded, we had a great practice, good energy - try to keep that as the focus as we move forward."
The Warriors are back in the Bay Area this week and on the practice floor in San Francisco after a pair of pre-season wins in Japan against the Washington Wizards, and Myers does not expect the incident to have a lingering effect.
"First, like anything you want to make sure everybody's okay, that's the No 1 thing," Myers said.
"After that, nobody likes these things, so how do you move forward? There's a process to these things, there's apologies, there's time."
