After the Warriors beat Jordan Poole and the Wizards at Chase Center last weekend, Poole’s comments about how he loves “most of the guys over there” reverberated through Golden State’s locker room.
At least they reached Draymond Green.
Green, who infamously punched Poole in a preseason practice before the 2022-23 season, publicly apologized to Poole on the social media platform X, writing, “I really am sorry.”
The Warriors never recovered from the incident last year, tanking their title defense effort. They traded Poole to Washington after that season, attaching a protected future pick to him for a year of Chris Paul.
On his podcast, Green said he thinks it’s time to put it all behind them.
“I responded because it’s been three years, let’s move on,” Green told his co-host Baron Davis. “It was kind of like it was looking for some sympathy. Keep wanting to make me out to be the bad guy. Move on, bro. It is what it is. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have punched him. But it happened, so let’s move on. I even apologized to his parents.”
Green has apologized to Poole — and, as he mentioned, his parents — multiple times before this instance and has taken responsibility. Yet he admitted he feels “kind of in between on certain days” when reflecting on what went down.
“You can’t call a man a b-word and push him and not get hit, either,” Green said on the podcast.
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“I shouldn’t have knocked him out like that,” Green said. “If anything, I should’ve hemmed him up. Kind of was just a natural reaction.”
Poole has rarely, if ever, directly commented on the punch but his relationship with Green was fractured.
The Wizards guard has had a bounce-back season, averaging a career-high 21.4 points and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 40.2% from 3. Against the Warriors, he poured in 38 points on 12-for-25 shooting.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he doesn’t spend much time thinking about what could have been with Poole in Golden State, but roots for him.
“I love Jordan, and always love seeing him,” Kerr said. “I want nothing but the best for him and the rest of his career. He deserves it.”
