Getty Golden State Warriors stars Draymond Green and Jordan Poole celebrate during a game against Charlotte Hornets.
Former Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole let his true feelings about Draymond Green be known more or less the minute after the organization traded him on June 22.
Athletes’ actions in the digital space have become predictors of future behavior as well as the clearest indicators of their true feelings about their teams and teammates. It was in this context that Poole communicated to Green — and the rest of the world — that he is not cool with the Dubs star, a full regular season after Green struck Poole in the face during a practice session in October.
The NBA on ESPN Twitter account on June 22 posted a screen shot of Poole’s Instagram account in the immediate wake of Golden State’s decision to ship the shooting guard to the Washington Wizards as part of a trade that brought Chris Paul to the Bay Area. The tweet indicated that Poole had severed personal ties with Green at, more or less, the exact same time as the organization severed ties with Poole.
Jordan Poole appears to have unfollowed Draymond Green on IG right after his trade to the Wizards 👀
(h/t @GoIdenState)
“Jordan Poole appears to have unfollowed Draymond Green on IG right after his trade to the Wizards 👀,” the caption said.
Tension Between Jordan Poole, Draymond Green Persisted All Season
GettyGolden State Warriors stars Draymond Green (left) and Jordan Poole.
Golden State’s choice to deal Poole to the Eastern Conference represents a decision by the organization to prioritize the futures of Green and Klay Thompson over Poole’s in a move that was, first and foremost, a salary dump. However, the trade was also a culture cleanser in the wake of tensions that followed the physical altercation between Green and Poole and that lingered the entire season.
Top down, the organization contended all season that the team had moved past Green’s assault of Poole, though head coach Steve Kerr abandoned that narrative almost immediately after the Los Angeles Lakers ended the Warriors’ bid for a repeat title by beating them in the Western Conference semifinals in May.
“[Green] knows that he had a great season this year from a basketball perspective, but he knows that he also compromised things by what happened back in October,” Kerr said during a May 16 media session, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “So part of him coming back next year has to be about rebuilding some of that trust and respect that he’s earned here for a long period of time. One thing I love about Draymond is he’s always brutally honest, and he can take that sort of critique because he knows it’s the truth.”
Warriors Valued Draymond Green More Than Jordan Poole
Getty(L-R) Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors during an NBA game.
Kerr and the rest of the Warriors clearly value a lot more about Green than just his brutal honesty and ability to engage in tough conversations, as they chose his defense and experience and intensity over Poole’s offensive prowess moving forward, even despite the fact that Green is leaning into the end of his prime while the start of Poole’s remains ahead of him.
The cold, hard truth that has now been laid bare in the harsh light of the team’s offseason decisions is that Golden State has prioritized the chemistry Green has with Steph Curry and other members of the locker room over anything Poole can offer. And that’s true even despite the fact that it was Green and his actions that compromised the season, as well as embarrassed and rattled Poole into a statistical regression during his fourth NBA campaign.
That said, the benefits of the trade also extend to Poole. He is likely to be the Wizards’ top offensive option amid a rebuild that will span the entirety of his four-year, $128 million contract. Poole also will no longer need to play the part of the good solider, which he did every time he was asked about the fallout from Green’s fist.
“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,” Poole told Logan Murdock of The Ringer in a story that was published on May 15, just days after Golden State’s playoff run ended. “It’s just business, honestly. And that’s really all it was, it is, it has been. It’s just been business. It’s been basketball.”
Business was how Poole approached a situation that was clearly personal, something his actions on Instagram last week spoke to more loudly than any of the contrary verbal narratives Poole, Green, Kerr and the rest of the Warriors put out for months.
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Jordan Poole Sends Cold Message to Warriors’ Draymond Green Post-Trade