"That's a bull jive move, Draymond... Draymond wrong for this" - NBA analyst criticizes Draymond Green for punching teammate, believes he wanted to send message and did it purposefully
Draymond Green is in trouble. Green, a four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, got into an altercation with Jordan Poole at practice on Wednesday. Warriors general manager Bob Myers even dismissed the whole affair as "not anything different than a normal bickering in a scrimmage."
However, a video released by TMZ Sports on Friday showed that the episode was more than "normal bickering." After a verbal spat between the two, Green viciously attacked Poole, throwing a punch at the 23-year-old and knocking him to the ground.
SHOCKING video shows Draymond Green violently attacking Jordan Poole, viciously punching him to the ground right in the middle of a team practice. tmz.me/UQSblwy
Video footage of the incident has enraged those covering the NBA. Several former players and analysts came out strongly in their condemnation of Green. Shannon Sharpe, the former NFL player and co-host of "Undisputed," had a scathing assessment of Green turning violent towards his own teammate. Sharpe said:
"That's a cheap shot by Draymond. I don't know where Poole's from. I know he went to the University of Michigan, but I can tell he's never been in a whole lot of fights. Clearly, they said they had been going back and forth. Going back and forth, you over there, I'm over here. 'Forget you.' 'FU. What you going to do?' As long as you're over there, we're fine."
Amid his criticism of Green, Sharpe had a word of advice for Poole:
"It seemed to me the coach knew something was going to happen because he started walking, too. The coach started walking when Draymond started walking, so he knew something was up. The only person who didn't know what's up, that was Poole.
"Bro, you don't let nobody walk up on you like that. The moment Draymond walked up, you should have did to Draymond what Draymond did to you."
Draymond Green is lucky he didn't injure Jordan Poole, says Skip Bayless
Sharpe also believes that Draymond Green is lucky that his punch did not cause any serious harm to Jordan Poole. Continuing with his condemnation of Green's actions, he said:
"That's a bull jive move, Draymond. I like Draymond. I really do, Skip, but that's a bull jive move what he did right there, Skip. That's wrong. You don't do that, man. C'mon, man. He could have seriously injured him. He lucky that he didn't break a jaw or that he didn't break anything, but c'mon, Draymond, really?
"We understand you're the gatekeeper. Maybe he's been shoved, but I don't care what he's done 'cause at the end of the day, Skip, he's a man. And I respect everybody that comes in my locker room. I give them their due respect."
Sharpe ended his stern criticism of Draymond, saying that the Golden State Warriors power forward definitely wanted to send Poole a message:
"I've seen guys fight for miscellaneous things, Skip. ... Draymond wrong for this. There's nothing Jordan Poole could have said, could have done ... Draymond had the sole purpose that I'm going to send this young boy a message. ... You do something like that on the street. You don't do that to a teammate."
.@ShannonSharpe reacts to footage of Draymond Green punching Warriors teammate Jordan Poole:
“This was a cheap shot by Draymond. Draymond wanted to send a message but he was wrong for this. And Jordan Poole, you don’t let nobody walk up on you like that!” https://t.co/bQgV1KLNmb