Ultimately, the call belonged to Jordan Poole and the Warriors’ locker room — not Adam Silver and the league office, not NBA pundits, not anyone else on the outside.
The Golden State Warriors will fine — but not suspend — Draymond Green for his vicious punch of teammate Jordan Poole during a practice last week, coach Steve Kerr announced after Tuesday’s Warriors preseason game. Green will rejoin the team on Thursday and is expected to play in the team’s preseason game Friday. He will be in uniform for the season opener — and Warriors’ ring night — next Tuesday against the Lakers.
Here is Steve Kerr’s opening remarks on the Warriors fining, not suspending, Draymond Green
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 12, 2022
Kerr calls this the “biggest crisis” since he has been the Warriors’ head coach pic.twitter.com/PGjXhWnJD3
“We’ve spent the last week in deep discussions with all of our key figures in the organization, including Jordan [Poole] and Draymond, of course, Steph [Curry], all of our players, Bob [Myers, general manager], myself,” Kerr said. “And I can tell you there have been a lot of conversations, individual one-on-one discussions, players-only discussions...
“We feel like this is the best way, after assessing everything, for us to move forward. Never easy, no matter what decision you make in a situation like this. It’s not going to be perfect. This is the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had since I’ve been coaching. It’s really serious stuff.”
The most important of those conversations was a long one between Poole and Green, Kerr added.
Draymond and Jordan Poole had a long conversation before the Warriors' decision was made. That was the biggest factor and what matters most
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 12, 2022
Steve Kerr: "Draymond and I have been together for eight years. We've had plenty of run-ins ... (but) I trust him. He broke our trust with this incident, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because I think he’s earned that -- and I think our team feels the same way." https://t.co/AktkrLN3l3
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 12, 2022
This situation came down to relationships — just how broken was the one between the Warriors and Green, and could they trust him again? Four championships worth of equity has been built up between the Warriors and Green, and they understood that the intensity he plays with and makes him elite can cut both ways sometimes. In the end, they brought him back with the players’ blessing — partly because if they are going after another ring this season they will need his elite defense.
But Green has run out of chances with the Warriors — this is it. He can’t break the team’s trust again. He’s got to make it work, starting Thursday in practice.
