The entire future of the Golden State Warriors changed on October 7, 2022, when footage of Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole in a team practice surfaced on social media. The Warriors traded Poole afterward, breaking up the core of the team that won the 2022 NBA championship. Years have passed, yet Green continues to learn from the incident.
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Ever since the public became aware of the altercation, Green has been incredibly transparent regarding the experience. The Warriors didn’t suspend Green for his participation, but he has had to bear the guilt of his actions.
Green made a recent appearance on The Pivot Podcast. Host Ryan Clark asked Green what it was like to have the entire world judging who he was as a person. Green’s response shed light on prior experiences that have shaped his approach to the entire Poole situation.
“Still at age 33, 34, and 35, I learn those lessons,” Green revealed. Other physical disputes play in as well, like one that occurred in college. “I’m into it with Keith Appling, and Derrick Nix comes out of nowhere. I can take a punch. I ain’t even see it,” Green said.
Appling and Nix were two of Green’s teammates at Michigan State. One time, Nix sucker punched Green. The 6-foot-6 forward had every right to let his emotions get the best of him, but that is the exact opposite of what he did. “We move on. It just happened. It’s my teammate; we move on,” Green proclaimed. \
In his freshman season, he also got into a heated exchange with senior Goran Suton. “[Suton] had me pinned down, and he’s on top of me,” Green said. Just like the other instance, the resolution was easy. They simply moved on.
Draymond understood his mistake after punching Poole, but when they weren’t able to get past it, he began to second-guess himself. “When we couldn’t move on, it made me think, ‘This dude is nothing like me,'” Green said.
The four-time NBA champion’s comments aren’t a dig at Poole but an evaluation of himself. Not every person goes down the same path or has the same way of handling a situation. Poole’s way of processing the altercation was much different than Green’s.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t any room for reconciliation. Of course, if Green could go back in time, he likely would not lash out the way he did. But he does see a silver lining through it all: “It’s those lessons that ultimately make me who I am to this day.”
Aside from being a great basketball player, Green is a human being. He is still learning how to live life, and that comes from making mistakes. The most important thing is Green has shown humility to be a better person, which is all that matters.
