"There’s no reason to sucker punch a young fella" – Former NBA champion urges Draymond Green to address the situation over his altercation with a teammate, advises him to restrict such conduct
Draymond Green has received a lot of criticism for his punch of Jordan Poole at practice, calling the act unnecessary. Former NBA player Stephen Jackson, who was involved in the infamous "Malice in the Palace" incident, also condemned Green’s actions.
Although Green and Poole have reportedly been at odds in the past, it was surprising to see hear the news in the first place. To add to that, the leaked video furthers the criticism Green is likely to get, given the ferocity with which he acted.
Stephen Jackson says Draymond Green was wrong for sucker punching Jordan Poole
(h/t @AhnFireDigital) https://t.co/H1GXPzEavD
Green has since apologized to the Golden State Warriors, but Jackson believes there’s some fixing to be done.
“There’s no reason to sucker punch a young fella. But I told Draymond last night, he gotta fix that situation with Poole,” Jackson said. "'Cause he don’t benefit from it at all. He gotta be the big bro and go over there and tell him, 'Bro, look, I spazzed out.’”
The 22-year-old Poole just completed his third season, as opposed to Green, a 10-year veteran. It doesn’t matter what the argument may have been, Green should have known better than to take a shot at his own teammate.
Warriors don’t practice today. Draymond Green is supposed to rejoin the team tomorrow at the facility, per Kerr. The video leak only adds to the building tension around the situation. This is a fierce swing. Everyone is fortunate Poole is fine. twitter.com/tmz/status/157…
The Warriors will be defending champions in the 2022-23 season, and this is the last thing they would have wanted to deal with. The Warriors are yet to decide on what kind of punishments they will dish out, but Green missed practice the following day while Poole attended.
“As far as any suspension, punishment, fine, we’re gonna handle that internally,” Myers said while addressing the media. “I understand you might have questions on that, but that’s gonna be an internal process.”
The altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole is not about their contracts
The NBA world was left scratching their heads after watching what happened during the Warriors’ practice session, and speculations were rampant. Some went to the extent of suggesting that Jordan Poole was letting his ongoing contract extension talks get to his head.
However, Warriors general manager Bob Myers clarified that it had nothing to do with that:
“I don’t think this was related to who’s getting paid, who isn’t. I don’t sense that. Make your own conclusions.”
Green is entering the final season of his contract before his 2023-24 player option and even spoke about getting paid what he deserved earlier in the summer. Poole, on the other hand, will enter the final year of his rookie deal unless he can reach an extension before the season starts.
Green reportedly addressed the team a day after the altercation, in Poole’s presence, but did not participate in practice. Green may have to mend some of his ties to gain the trust of the locker room. But coach Steve Kerr suggested that the team had good energy the following day, showing their readiness to work through the incident.