The Warriors have taken a windy road to arrive at an 11-11 start to the season — a journey that began with self-imposed drama.
Almost two months ago, Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole during a training camp practice, resulting a team-issued suspension. Though a leaked video complicated the situation, the Warriors handled the altercation and, at least publicly, have moved on.
Poole has been mostly quiet on the front, while Green discussed the incident in a strange TNT mini documentary and has been more vocal.
Ahead of Friday’s nationally televised tilt against the Chicago Bulls, Green again addressed the Poole punch in a wide-ranging interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears.
“We’re teammates,” Green said of his relationship with Poole. “The same as I am with any teammate. I come to work. I’m going to do everything that I can to help a guy. I’m going to do everything I can to help the team, and that’s who we are.”
Asked to clarify his “working relationship” with Poole, Green told Andscape: “Yes, it’s great. There’s no problem with that.”
Poole has described the dynamic similarly. When he first addressed the media after the incident on Oct. 16, Poole was composed.
“[Draymond] apologized,” Poole told reporters then. “[It was] professional, and we plan on handling ourselves that way. We’re here to play basketball and everybody in the locker room and on the team knows what it takes to win a championship and we’re gonna do that on the court. That’s really all I have to say on the matter. We’re here to win a championship and keep hanging banners.”
On the year, Green is averaging nine points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. Poole, 23, has struggled more, shooting 41.5% from the field and 30.5% from 3 off the bench.
The Andscape interview also included details on how much longer Green wants to play, his contract status, and what Golden State needs to do to turn things around.