"I f**ked it off" - Draymond Green reflects on Jordan Poole incident lamenting his absence from contract celebration
It has been well over a year since Draymond Green's punch on Jordan Poole. The incident took place in the Golden State Warriors practice facility on Oct. 2022. Since then, Green has been on record saying that he was wrong. He again spoke about the incident on The Draymond Green Show on Monday.
Green told his teammate Kevon Looney that he had taken Poole under his wing when he joined the Warriors. However, when Poole signed a four-year, $123 million contract extension with the Warriors, he couldn’t go because of the incident.
“One of the worst feelings I’ve ever had as an NBA player, was seeing him get a contract and knowing that I f**ked it off and I couldn’t celebrate his contract with him,” Green said.
Although Poole and Green played together during the 2022-23 season, the latter was traded to the Washington Wizards in the offseason. Since arriving in Washington, Poole hasn’t been his best version. He averaged 17.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game this season.
As for Draymond Green, he also didn't have the best season for himself. Green was suspended for five games after he put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. He was again suspended indefinitely after hitting Jusuf Nurkic across the face. He was later reinstated after 12 games.
Draymond Green didn't think the Warriors would sign him after Jordan Poole incident
Even after the incident, the Warriors did right by both Draymond Green and Jordan Poole. After Poole, the Dubs signed Green for a four-year, $100 million contract. However, Green had doubts whether his team would want to bring him back after his contract expires.
"What gave me doubt is that I didn't know if I would have the opportunity to redeem myself," Green told ESPN last year. "Not [because] that thing necessarily happened. It's that, do you have an opportunity to make it right, or is that just it? It doesn't change what happened. It doesn't change that I was at fault. But I'm a human being, and human beings do wrong.”
Green added that the world stood against him when things went wrong and that he was considered a “cancer” for his team. Since the incident, he never got to redeem himself, prove his worth and why he is a four-time NBA champion.
Perhaps he will win another championship with the Warriors or perhaps he will win another Defensive Player of The Year with the team. For Poole, hopefully, he will have a great season next year and both can move away from the incident.