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Draymond Green announced his decision to “step away” from the Golden State Warriors in the coming days, during a hastily arranged press conference in which he apologized for punching teammate Jordan Poole during a practice session.
It’s unclear when Green will be back with the team, despite the Warriors’ defense of their NBA title, which started at home to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on October 18 — just 10 days from now.
The video of Green’s punch was leaked Friday, with reports claiming that the Warriors are “taking all legal action” to discover how the shocking footage came out.
After the clip was made public, Green decided to talk to the media – calling the leak “bulls***” – and apologized again to his teammate.
“First, I was wrong for my actions that happened on Wednesday, and for that I apologized to my team, I apologized to Jordan,” he said. “I wanted to go one step further with yesterday’s video leak event.
“There comes a tremendous shame, not only from myself as the one who committed the action, but also from the shame that Jordan is dealing with, that the team is dealing with, but also of Jordan’s family.
The clip shows Draymond Green exchanging words with Jordan Poole along the baseline, before bumping into the chest with the smaller guard, who tries to gently push the veteran forward. He then takes revenge with a brutal suction cup to floor his teammate
“His mom and dad saw that video. Frankly, I know that if my mom had seen that video, what would be her reaction would be her next step. So I apologize to his mom and dad.”
The short clip, initially sent to TMZ, showed an altercation between Green and his teammate Poole, with Green initially trying to confront Poole.
In response, Poole pushes Green away, before the latter then makes contact with a brutal suction cup, leaving Poole on the ground while staff and players wade in to calm the situation.
Draymond Green addressed local media in the Bay Area on Saturday after his stupid punch
Players and coaches have met with Green, who is pictured with his wife Hazel Renee
“I thought they were bulls,” Green added. “No other video has been leaked from the practice… I thought it was bulls*** that the video was leaked.
‘What did I think of myself at that moment? I watched the video 15 times, maybe more. Because when I watch the video, watch the video, I think, “yo, this looks awful! This looks even worse than I thought it was. It’s pathetic!”
“Then I also had to step back and realize that this video was actually released this way, to look like this.
Despite the approaching new season, Green is leaving the team after the incident
Poole and Green appeared to have no issues during the Warriors’ 2021 title-winning campaign
“For whoever released the video, I don’t know who released the video. I am very grateful to the Warriors organization for taking it as seriously as they have and starting the research they have. Frankly they don’t have to, they are under no obligation to investigate something I did wrong.
“The video serves the purpose it was supposed to serve and I had the same mindset of ‘Wow! this is terrible! This is terrible!’ Besides, it’s terrible, and it’s terrible. For example, because of the way the video is cut up and not released with audio and all those things — what I did was wrong.’
Both Green and Poole are eligible for lucrative contract extensions from the cash-strapped Warriors, who are trying to reduce the already sky-high luxury tax. Last season, en route to their fourth title in the past eight seasons, the Warriors collected an NBA-record $170.3 million in luxury taxes on top of their league-high payroll of $184 million.
In theory, Green and Poole compete for the money the team wants to spend in the future.
Several internet reports claim Poole’s ego has grown as he neared a new contract extension, perhaps adding to the friction with Green, but head coach Steve Kerr seemed to dismiss that on Thursday.
‘All I will say is Jordan’ [Poole’s attitude] The whole camp has been fantastic,” Kerr told reporters.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Myers has said the incident has not affected negotiations with Poole
Green has a reputation as a puncher and has been caught hurling at opponents before
Chief Executive Officer Bob Myers has said the incident has not affected negotiations with Poole.
Now in his 10th season, Green has won four NBA titles after last June’s win over Boston. The problem is that he has occasionally bumped heads with teammates, such as an infamous on-field argument with Kevin Durant in 2017, and even Kerr has been caught complaining about the former Defensive Player of the Year.
During a 2019 game, Kerr appeared to be saying to a member of his staff, “I’m so damn tired of Dramond’s s***.”
When given the chance to clarify what he had said, Kerr downplayed the incident with a joke.
“No, the lip readers were wrong,” he told reporters. “What I said was, ‘I don’t agree with Draymond’s approach tonight.’ Those were my exact words. I don’t know how anyone got that wrong.’
Green and ex-Warriors, now Brooklyn, star Kevin Durant were known to occasionally disagree
Kerr did admit that he and Green had a private conversation about the case afterward.
Green certainly has a reputation as a puncher and has been caught swinging at opponents’ genitals several times, including once in the 2016 NBA Finals when he punched LeBron James on the groin. Green was eventually suspended for the next game.
On Thursday, Myers defended Green by saying he made up for it in the past when he crossed a line.
“He’ll tell you he’s crossed that line, but he always comes back,” Myers said. ‘Nobody says they don’t want him around…but [Wednesday] wasn’t a good time… I don’t think he likes to put himself in these places. He’s in one, but I think he’ll find a way to win back the respect of his teammates and Jordan.”