The punch that Draymond Green threw at Jordan Poole during a training camp practice session was an early sign of a divided team, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. The Golden Warriors‘ front office had hoped to develop a young group of players who could eventually take over for the veteran core, but sources tell Shelburne the strategy created a tension between the two groups that still persists.
Shelburne notes that neither participant has offered much public comment on the incident, but Poole told her this week that he believed it was important to handle the situation with grace.
“I don’t speak on it much,” he said. “But I will say that … you’ve got to have a different level of maturity. We had a season to play. You’re going to have to play with these people in the locker room, and that’s why I said maturity is a big thing. What I know for a fact is there aren’t many people who would be able to think logically and understand the magnitude of the situation, you know?”
The punch was preceded by a verbal exchange between the two players, which led to Green walking over to Poole and confronting him. Poole shoved Green in the chest to move him away and Green responded by hitting Poole in the face and knocking him down, then standing over him before coaches and teammates rushed in to break them up.
Underlying the skirmish was speculation about their respective futures with the organization. Poole was eligible for a rookie-scale extension -- which he received a week later -- that could be worth up to $140M over four years while Green has a $27.6M player option for next season. Although the Warriors intend to discuss a new multi-year contract with Green, there is no guarantee he will be back with the team next season.
Green and Poole kept their lockers next to each other and tried to maintain business as usual during the season, but the atmosphere around the team was different, according to Shelburne. Poole’s play regressed and he became an easy target for fans and media when it came to the team’s defensive problems.
Poole also became noticeably more quiet, both with his teammates and reporters, but sources tell Shelburne the frustrations that he and other young players harbored were well known in the locker room. While Poole failed to deliver on the promise that led to his extension, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody were unable to earn consistent rotation minutes and James Wiseman was sent to the G League for a while before being shipped to Detroit at the trade deadline.
Another unresolved issue is how video footage of the incident, which was shot by team personnel, was leaked to TMZ. The Warriors launched an internal investigation to identify the culprit, but Shelburne states that no one was ever held publicly accountable.
“People changed after that,” a team source told Shelburne. “Everybody was suspicious for a while.”
More must-reads: