Getty Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
One of the main storylines that followed the Golden State Warriors last season was the rift between Jordan Poole and Draymond Green. Green landed a knockout punch to Poole’s face at a preseason practice in October. Weeks later, video of the incident surfaced and went viral.
Since then, the Warriors underachieved, as did Poole, who has since been traded to the Washington Wizards.
On Tuesday, Poole’s father, Anthony, took to Twitter to spill some truth about Green and his handling of the incident’s blowback.
“I’m stand on this that’s is some bs,” Poole said in a — now deleted — tweet, per Warriors World. “JP was his guy and he avoid me all last year. He is a soft a** b**** and I’m standing on this and he didn’t apologize to me and my wife. So he lame and me and him can meet anytime he want.”
Warriors’ Draymond Green Speaks on Incident with Jordan Poole
Poole’s father’s comments didn’t just come out of the blue. He typed out the message shortly after a clip was tweeted out of Green discussing the punch, during a recent appearance on the “Pat Bev Pod.”
“I don’t just hit people,” Green told host Patrick Beverly. “Dialogue — of course — happens over time. You usually ain’t just triggered by something, that fast to that degree. This is a team. Ain’t nobody on my team triggering me in an instant. Dialogue of course happens over time… We know stuff that you don’t say amongst men. We know things that you have to stand on. As I’ve admitted before, I was wrong in the way that I handled it — for the situation and where we were. But, I’m a man at the end of the day and I stand on things. And there are certain things you have to stand on.”
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“By the way, I wish him well. I was showing him the ropes in this league,” Green continued. “So I wish him well. I think he’s got a bright future. Super talented — super skilled — going to a situation where he’s got an opportunity to grow at a pace that’s not next to three guys who are going to be in the Hall of Fame — three guys whose accomplished what not many have accomplished in the NBA… I don’t have no hard feelings towards anything, I wish him well on his journey.”
Draymond Green Discusses Earning Voice Back with Warriors
Green has talked about his incident with Poole a few times before. Most notably, he was interviewed by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, right before the playoffs started.
The 33-year-old explained that the season was tough because he felt as if he had to re-earn the respect of his teammates.
“I felt like I had to earn my voice. A voice isn’t given. For me, I wanted to do things to earn that back…I took a step back … three or four steps back, and just kind of let things play out,” Green explained, when asked about how he approached leadership moments with Poole.
Later on, Green cited time as the biggest help towards mending the relationship.
“Let time heal all wounds. So let time heal the wounds while I’m working, putting my head down, going to work, putting my body on the line every single day, dive in and say something every now and then but don’t be too overbearing. But at that point in the season, it’s time to make a push. It’s time to make a run. And everyone accepts things better after wins than after losses. So it was an understanding that we were putting together some wins.”