We now know why so much has been made of the the practice altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole.
Video of the incident surfaced on Friday via TMZ Sports, that shows Green walking up to Poole and forcefully punching him in the face after Poole pushes him away. After punching Poole, Green grabs him and stands over him as coaches and teammates rush to separate the two. The video does not have audio, but it appears the incident began with the players are talking trash to each other before coming face-to-face.
Poole was reportedly not hurt by the incident, going through a shooting routine shortly after and practicing fully on Thursday. Green was suspended by the team for Thursday’s practice, but did go to the facility to apologize to the team and Poole according to president of basketball operations Bob Myers.
Myers said he didn’t believe that the trash talking that led up to the incident had anything to do with the players’ contract situations, as both are up for lucrative extensions. Both Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry also refuted a report that Poole’s attitude has been a problem this offseason.
Green is expected to play in the Warriors’ next preseason game on Sunday vs. the Lakers at Chase Center.