Getty Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green reacts during a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Golden State Warriors clearly know how to shake up a relatively stagnant NBA news cycle. Or, at the very least, Dubs big man Draymond Green has mastered the art.
Green — who usually makes headlines by talking on his podcast or going off in the presence of reporters, officials, fans… anyone, really — elevated things to the physical realm on Wednesday by actually throwing down on teammate Jordan Poole.
The two apparently have a history of jawing at one another, and it was happening again during the team’s latest practice. This time, though, the four-time All-Star and 2017 Defensive Player of the Year broke new ground by physically striking his much-younger cohort.
While opinions on the altercation — and how it should be handled by the Warriors — vary dramatically from one person to the next, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is clearly among those who believe the story has been woefully overblown.
ESPN’s Smith Dismisses Green-Poole Altercation
The morning after Green threw and connected with what has been described as a punch to Poole’s face, Smith was asked for his assessment of the wild situation during an appearance on First Take.
And while many are up in arms over what transpired, Smith is simply over it.
“I could care less,” he said of the incident. “It’s teammates… they were just laughing and hugging with one another in June when they won the championship. This stuff happens — you get in each other’s face, you’re talking trash, sometimes punches are thrown or whatever the case may be, maybe a fine is going to be warranted. I don’t know what happened. I never even bothered to call.”
Smith clearly expects some kind of punishment to be handed down as a result of the kerfuffle, but that doesn’t mean he sees it as a major development.
“Maybe a fine is going to be happening. Maybe you’ll get suspended a game. Maybe Draymond was a headache. Maybe pool reacted wrong… I don’t know. Here’s the bottom line: they play together, they’re teammates and they’re champions together — this stuff happens all the time. It is much ado about nothing. I couldn’t care less.”
Is Poole Getting Too Big for His Britches?
In the wake of the melee (assuming one can even call it that), scattered reports suggested that Green may have been prompted to take Poole down a peg by the baller’s newly-cultivated “big-timer” mindset.
Poole, of course, looks to be on the verge of putting pen to paper on a contract extension that may not be of the Tyler Herro, four-year-$130 million variety, but will absolutely be somewhere in the vicinity. And he was already a super-confident guy.
“Jordan Poole came into the building arguing with people. He came into the building thinking he was worth $100 million,” said The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, via 95.7 The Game.
Added Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes: “There was a buildup stemming from teammates noticing a change in Poole’s behavior throughout camp with the guard on the verge of securing a lucrative extension.”
Dubs forward Andre Iguodala was the first to denounce the notion that Poole’s changing financial status played any role in what went down, tweeting: “What we not gone do is talk crazy about my young fella JP… great character kid… miss me with all that other bs… straight from the ‘SOURCE.'”