Getty Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Japan Games at Saitama Super Arena on October 2, 2022 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)
The Golden State Warriors have more than a real mess on their hands. In actuality, they have several.
The first is tumult in the inner-most circles of a championship hierarchy, after comparative old head Draymond Green clocked the up-and-coming Jordan Poole in the face during a practice session Wednesday. The second is what factors could have played a role in that altercation, including both men vying for maximum contract extensions from a franchise that has some difficult financial decisions in its immediate future.
The third is the leaking of video of the incident, which was shot from inside the Dubs’ facility, to TMZ on Friday. The jarring footage has transformed Green’s transgression from an in-house problem to a public debacle, and could force Golden State into action should fans demand greater consequences for violent behavior they can’t unsee.
The fourth is what the motivation for leaking the video might have been. Money is a logical possibility, but it’s also possible it was done to cast Green in a negative light.
At least one media member alleged that Green had already attempted to do the same thing to Poole prior to the video’s release, which speaks to the fifth potential mess on the Dubs’ hands in the wake of this controversy.
Mike Ryan of Meadowlark Media accused Green of engineering the anonymous sourcing behind a report that accused Poole of developing an “attitude” over the offseason, as he approaches a lucrative contract extension. Warriors star Steph Curry and head coach Steve Kerr both filed the insinuations about Poole under the category of misinformation during interviews with the media this week.
“Draymond Green, for all his new media stuff, is relying on his Klutch management people to play a media game and slander Jordan Poole,” Ryan said on The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz on October 6. “I found that interesting.”
“What’s with the new media? It’s just media. We’re all pulling the same rope here,” Ryan continued. “And especially when you’re going to play games like that, and have your management go behind and work the actual media. Maybe you shouldn’t be touting new media so much if you’re playing old media games, Draymond.”
Issues Between Green, Poole May Run Deeper Than Physical Fight
Getty/Ezra ShawDraymond Green of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with teammate Jordan Poole during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center.
The report in question came from the digital pen of Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, who sent out a tweet detailing Green’s “apologetic” demeanor after aggressively punching his younger teammate in the face, before adding a caveat that Poole may have brought the violence down on his own head.
Draymond Green was apologetic in aftermath of the altercation with Jordan Poole, but 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, league sources tell @YahooSports.
“Draymond Green was apologetic in aftermath of the altercation with Jordan Poole, but 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, league sources tell [Yahoo Sports],” Haynes tweeted Wednesday.
Haynes is a prominent NBA insider, known around the league for his extensive player relationships and the news sourcing those connections afford him.
Ryan implied that the Klutch Sports Group — run by LeBron James‘ agent Rich Paul, and which represents several prominent NBA players — was utilizing Haynes’ platform to push its own narrative of events.
“That’s a very conventional media spin that Klutch has put out through one of their ‘agents’ in Chris Haynes,” Ryan added later in the LeBatard Show Thursday. “For all that new media stuff, Draymond is playing some old media games right now.”
It was an assertion with which the show’s host and namesake agreed.
“Yes, he is,” LeBatard responded.
Video Leak of Green’s Punch Will Extend Controversy For Warriors
GettyHead coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors reacts to a play against the Boston Celtics during Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 10, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Warriors vowed to aggressively investigate the video leak, while Kerr spoke to the issue publicly on Saturday.
“It’s like if you had a camera in your family and there was a family dispute. Would you really want to discuss it with the world? No,” Kerr said, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. “In 32 years, I’ve probably seen 20-plus fights. It should not make it out of our walls.”
Green also addressed the leak of the video, as well as his behavior in it, with media members on Saturday. Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweeted a recording of Green’s comments.
Draymond Green called it “bullshit” that the video leaked but said he watched it “15 times” and agreed how bad it looked
Full soundbite
I thought it was bull s***. No other video leaks from practice. We’re working on our sets they don’t leak, you know? When I’m coaching everyone up, that doesn’t leak.
I watched the video 15 times, maybe more, because when I watch the video … I’m like, “Yo, this looks awful. This looks even worse than I thought it was.” It’s pathetic.
Then I had to take a step back to and realize that this video was actually released this way, to look that way. I don’t know who released the video. I am very thankful to the Warriors organization for taking it as seriously as they have and launching the investigation that they have.
But for whoever leaked the video, it did the same thing to me that it’s intended to do to the world. It’s an audio-less video. It’s a video that cuts to me walking right to him. And so, the video serves the purpose that it was supposed to serve. And it had me in the same mindset like, “Wow, this is terrible. This is awful.”
And by the way, it is terrible and it is awful. Just because of the way the video is cut up … what I did was wrong.