Draymond responds to Poole’s postgame quote with an apologetic message that originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Draymond Green left the Warriors’ win over the Washington Wizards early Saturday with a calf injury, but the veteran forward still had something to say after the game.
Jordan Poole, who infamously punched Green during a Warriors preseason practice in October 2022, is now with the Wizards — and he made it clear he still has love for the majority of his former teammates after turning 38 on Saturday had dropped points at Chase Center.
“Yeah, I love those guys over there. I like most of those guys there,” Poole told reporters after the game. “Really a good group. Really good staff. Shout out to the fans. I’ve seen a lot of 3 jerseys there, a lot of JP3 jerseys, which is always really cool. I always get a lot of love [here]. I spent some good quality time here and it’s great to see it appreciated.”
After the first part of that post-match quote was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, Green responded to what seemed like a subtle shade from Poole.
Green and Poole have both spoken about the incident several times since it occurred over two years ago, with the Warriors forward recently describing it as one of the lowest points of his NBA career.
“I’ve always been a guy that no matter what happens, if someone’s younger than me, I always want to throw my weight on them,” Green told Penny Hardaway last month on the “Two Cents Podcast.” “And I will say that I was kind of put into a vet role before I was ready to tackle it, before I knew what it would take to tackle it. And I failed miserably.
“One of my biggest failures as a vet was what happened to Jordan Poole. It took me getting through that failure with Jordan Poole, someone who came in and chose his locker next to me because he wanted to learn from me. [He] was someone I would spend time with and fall into, and I [f–ked] it all up.”
Poole, meanwhile, has been more blunt about the situation and his relationship with Green in the aftermath.
“I don’t have an answer for you,” Poole told The Ringer’s Logan Murdock about where things stand with Green after the Warriors were eliminated from the 2023 NBA playoffs. “Other than that we were just on the field and teammates. and we tried to win games.
“I remember saying at the beginning of the season, ‘We’re coming. We’re coming out here. We’re going to play on the field. We’re going to try to win a championship.” We were teammates. It’s just business, honestly. And that’s really all it was, it is, it has been. It was just business. It was basketball.”
Green has experienced many highs and lows since the blow, including an indefinite suspension last season for repeated on-field altercations. But the 34-year-old hasn’t gotten into foul trouble so far during the 2024-25 NBA season — a sign he may have grown into his leadership role.
And with his post Saturday night, it appears Green is still filled with remorse over the incident.
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