In October 2022, an altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole resulted in the former punching the latter during a Golden State Warriors practice session. Since then, the Warriors veteran has tried to apologize for the same and move past it. However, not everyone has forgiven him yet, including the co-host of Kevin Durant’s ETCs podcast, Eddie Gonzalez.
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He recently quote-tweeted a clip from The Draymond Green Show where Green labeled the incident as his biggest regret as a veteran. Gonzalez called him out for still peddling an agenda by trying to give a positive spin to his actions.
Green has claimed, even in the past, that the incident changed him as a veteran leader. He has reasons to believe that he is now a much better senior in the camp because of what happened with Poole. But Gonzalez isn’t completely sold on that narrative.
He wrote, “The “punching my teammate and completely wrecking our chemistry and breaking up a contender was actually a good thing” agenda not tired? Lol.”
In the clip in question, Green can be heard admitting how he “f***ed it all up” despite knowing that Poole looked up to him. Green said, “I haven’t failed that miserably at most things in my life. So, that was one of my biggest failures.”
The “punching my teammate and completely wrecking our chemistry and breaking up a contender was actually a good thing” agenda not tired? Lol https://t.co/oQU5TGr6n1
— Eddie Gonzalez (@bansky) December 27, 2024
He then went on to explain how he learned to be a better veteran for the likes of Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, “It taught me a ton, it showed me how to be a better vet…I had to go through that in order to learn.”
Green claimed that he is now aware of his limits when it comes to handling the young stars. While the regret seems heartfelt, Gonzalez believes that Green is acting like this to whitewash his image.
What did Jordan Poole say about the incident?
The incident at the Warriors practice facility in October changed the course of the season for the 2022 Champions. With Poole staying with the Warriors for the entirety of the season, most of the questions were about the incident. In May 2023, he was asked by The Ringer‘s Logan Murdock to comment on his relationship with Green and where things stood between them.
He said, “I don’t have no answer for you. Other than that, we was just on the court and teammates, and we was out there trying to win games… We were teammates. It’s just business, honestly. And that’s really all it was, it is, it has been.” Despite his attempts to get rid of the questions surrounding the topic, people wanted to know more.
JP on if the preseason incident with Draymond affected the Dubs' season pic.twitter.com/4AE8SisoVT
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 13, 2023
When asked if the pre-season incident impacted the season, Poole said, “I mean, we made it to the second round of the playoffs. We had a good season. Guys stepped up and had a lot of exciting moments. I don’t think there was anything that was changing any of that.” In July 2023, Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards alongside Patrick Baldwin Jr., Ryan Rollins, and draft picks in exchange for Chris Paul.
