Draymond regrets leaving Warriors after hitting Poole originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Draymond Green was not the Warriors leader most know after the Jordan Poole situation.
Instead, the four-time NBA champion took a backseat and distanced himself from his Golden State teammates.
In an exclusive interview with Marc J. Spears of AndscapeGreen explained how he disconnected from the Warriors before being inspired to get back into the mix.
“Green told Andscape that he engaged less with his teammates outside of work for three main reasons: Being a family man with a wife and three children, a person who has been there and done that. NBA veteran mentalityand the belief that he needed to be less involved after hitting then-Warriors teammate Jordan Poole in a 2022 practice,” Spears wrote.
Green is one of the most vocal and seemingly motivating teammates in the league. However, he admitted that was not the case after the Green-Poole incident on October 5, 2022, between being mentally busy with other things.
Green found it difficult to decide what to do after being in the spotlight for batting Poole. Even after issuing public and private apologies, things were not normal between Green, Poole and the Warriors.
“Then (Poole) happened and I thought, ‘I really have to do my thing, stay out of the way, stay out of the way,'” Green told Spears. “I’m not sure that was the right thing to do either. But while it was happening, that’s what felt good. Hindsight is 20/20. We always think something like, “If I had known this at the time, I would have done X.” So at the time that was what felt right to me.
“I can’t sit here and tell you it was good. But what I can tell you is that that’s not right for me personally. I’m not a loner by any means. “I don’t know how people do that.”
Being aloof isn’t what Green normally is; However, he was temporarily until tragedy struck Golden State during the 2023-24 season.
He death of assistant coach Dejan Milojević The dynamic of the locker room changed drastically. There was no room for hiccups and loneliness, as the Warriors needed each other. This led Green to change his mindset, he explained to Spears, and to recommit.
Spears added that Green had a “revelation” after Milojević’s death. And Green was clear that although the nightmare brought him closer to Golden State, Poole’s situation was already in the rearview mirror.
“No, it wasn’t necessarily me moving on from that,” Green told Spears of Milojević’s passing that likely prompted the Warriors forward to move on from the Poole situation. “I moved on long before I had to. You can’t sit and stand in the mud and think about the past. I apologized for my bad actions. I tried to do everything I could to fix it. I can’t sit there and think about it.
“You just continue to grow. You continue to realize what matters. Many times we sit and complain. And for me, I always try to remind myself, ‘Everyone has sh*t.’ What makes your sh*t so special? It’s just your s**t. It also doesn’t make anyone else any less. That’s their s**t.”
Green, who faced some suspensions last season, has come a long way in terms of commitment to the team since the Poole incident.
In speaking with Spears, Green emphasized creating a fun environment with Golden State like retired NBA veterans Jared Jack and David Lee did early in their careers.
Green cannot change what happened to Poole and the consequences that followed. What’s done is done. However, Green can continue to catalyze positivity within the Warriors organization.
“It happened,” Green said of Poole’s dilemma. “I moved on a long time ago and tried to do what I could to move on, help people move on. Deki’s situation wasn’t that for me, it just was what it was. Go to work with someone every day. And then all of a sudden you’re not.”
The Warriors, who are undefeated entering their preseason finale against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, would appreciate Green, with the Poole incident behind him, being involved as normal during the 2024-25 NBA season.
And Green apparently doesn’t want to be in such a dark position again.