After the Warriors beat Jordan Poole and the Wizards at Chase Center last weekend, Poole's comments about how much he loves “most of the guys over there” echoed through the Golden State locker room.
At least they reached Draymond Green.
Green, who infamously punched Poole in a pre-season training session ahead of the 2022/23 season, publicly apologized to Poole on the social media platform X, writing“I'm really sorry.”
The Warriors never recovered from last yr's incident, derailing their efforts to defend their title. They traded Poole to Washington after that season, securing him a sure future pick for one yr Chris Paul.
On his PodcastGreen said he thinks it's time to place all of it behind him.
“I responded because it's been three years, let's move on,” Green told his co-host Baron Davis. “It was like it was looking for compassion. I still want to be the bad guy. Go ahead, brother. It is what it is. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit him. But it happened, so let's move on. I even apologized to his parents.”
Green apologized to Poole – and, as he mentioned, his parents – multiple times before this case and accepted responsibility. Still, he admitted that on certain days he feels “somewhere in between” when he thinks about what happened.
“You also can’t call a man the B-word and push him without getting hit,” Green said on the podcast.
“I shouldn’t have knocked him out like that,” Green said. “If anything, I should have locked him up. It was kind of a natural reaction.”
Poole rarely, if ever, commented directly on the blow, but his relationship with Green was frayed.
The Wizards guard is coming off a breakout season, averaging a career-high 21.4 points and 4.7 assists per game and shooting 40.2% from 3. He scored 38 points on 12-against against the Warriors -25 shots.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he doesn't spend much time desirous about what could have happened with Poole in Golden State, but he's rooting for him.
“I love Jordan and I’m always happy to see him,” Kerr said. “I only want the best for him and the rest of his career. He deserves it.”
Originally published:
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