Draymond Green will step away from the Golden State Warriors in the aftermath of his altercation in practice with teammate Jordan Poole. In a video released by TMZ earlier this week, Green and Poole got into it with one another, and after Poole shoved the former Defensive Player of the Year, Green responded by throwing a right hook that caught the side of Poole’s face.
There have been rumors that Poole’s attitude in camp on the verge of a lucrative contract extension has rubbed teammates the wrong way, even though Steph Curry has pushed back against this. In the days since, we’ve heard from plenty of folks around the Warriors, and on Saturday, it was Green’s turn to address the situation.
“I was wrong for my actions that took place on Wednesday.”
Here’s part of Draymond Green’s apology statement: pic.twitter.com/FURbHPqJ88
— C.J. Holmes
(@CjHolmes22) October 8, 2022
Green says he has apologized to Jordan Poole and Poole’s family.
“There’s a huge embarrassment that comes from (the video) not only for myself … but the embarrassment that Jordan has to deal with … and also Jordan’s family.”
— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) October 8, 2022
Green went on to say that he’ll take an indefinite leave of absence from the team, which is scheduled to begin its regular season on Oct. 18 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Green announces he will step away from the team for a few days to focus on himself, and allow the team to “heal.” He doesn’t know how long he will be away.
— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) October 8, 2022
In aftermath of practice altercation, Warriors’ Draymond Green says he is going to step away from the team for the next few days. Green apologized to teammates on Thursday, publicly Saturday, and will take some more time to recalibrate.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 8, 2022
Green also addressed the fact that a video of the incident was made public by TMZ, saying that “it was bullsh*t that it leaked” but conceding that the video “looks even worse than I thought it was.”
Draymond Green on what he thought when the video leaked: “I thought it was bulls**t that it leaked.” Says other videos of practices aren’t leaked.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 8, 2022
Draymond Green on the video becoming public: “I thought it was bullsh—. No other videos leak from practice. When we’re working on our sets, that don’t leak.” Draymond said he watched the video “15 times, maybe more” and conceded “it looks even worse than I thought it was.”
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 8, 2022
The team is in the midst of an investigation to discover the source of the leak.