Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr announced that Draymond Green will not be suspended for his violent attack on teammate Jordan Poole, but will only be fined.
Steve Kerr via Golden State Warriors YouTube
Green superman punched Poole during a team practice. In video obtained by TMZ Sports, Poole and Green appear to be jawing at each other. Green then walks over to the sidelines. He then slowly walks back over to Poole who takes a number of steps backwards and off the court. Green then bumps his chest into Poole.
Poole responds by shoving Green away. Green then superman punches Poole. Poole then appears to crumple to the ground with Green over top of him while a number of their other teammates and staff rush over to break the two up.
Green apologized in a press conference saying, “I was wrong for my actions that took place on Wednesday and for that I have apologized to my team. I have apologized to Jordan and I wanted to take that a step further with the event yesterday, with the video leaking.”
Now, Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed Green will only be fined for his actions.
Kerr said during a press conference, “[Green] is going to come back to practice on Thursday. He’s been fined. He will not be suspended. I expect him to play Friday in our last preseason game and on opening night.”
Kerr continued, “We have spent the last week in deep discussions with all of our key figures in the organization including Jordan and Draymond, of course, Steph, all of our players, Bob, myself and I can tell you there have been a lot of conversations: individual, one-on-one, discussions, players only discussions, everything that you can think of, all the different combinations that are possible to have in a conversation. We’ve had them. It’s been an exhaustive process”
“We feel like we have a great feel for our team,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a lot of continuity on this team so Bob and I know our players extremely well. And we feel like this is the best way after assessing everything for us to move forward.”
Steve Kerr via Golden State Warriors YouTube
“It’s 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 coach here,” he claimed. “It’s really serious stuff. We’re not perfect. Our team isn’t perfect. Bob and I have definitely made our share of mistakes over the years, but we’re going to lean on the experience that we have together and over the last nine years and trust that this is the best decision for our team.”
“We have a lot of work to do, all of us, players, coaches, Bob in the front of office, but we are committed to doing that work together and making this a really successful season,” he said.
Kerr then specifically addressed the fine saying, “I’m not going to talk about the fine other than to say he has been fine, but I won’t talk about the amount on that.”
Draymond Green via Golden State Warriors YouTube
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While Kerr claims this is the biggest crisis since he’s been coach, that’s not how the Warriors were initially describing the attack before the video was released to the public by TMZ Sports.
Golden State Warriors President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Myers said, “As reported there was an altercation. The people that were reported to be in it, that’s accurate. Everybody’s fine. Jordan practiced today. Draymond didn’t.”
He then added, “Look, it’s the NBA, it’s professional sports, these things happen. Nobody likes it. We don’t condone it, but it happened.”
Bob Myers via Golden State Warriors YouTube
Myers continued, “Draymond apologized to the team this morning. Jordan was there in the room. I was there in the room. The team, the coaches, the players and we heard that.”
Later in the press conference he reiterated, “Don’t like going through it, but it’s a part of the NBA, and it’s part of sports and it’s kind of where it is.”
Kerr would also be asked about a previous suspension given to Green after an altercation with Kevin Durant in 2020. Green was suspended for a single game for conduct detrimental to the team. No details on what the altercation were provided.
Addressing this previous suspension and the lack of one now despite claiming its the biggest crisis, Kerr said, “Every situation is totally different and we don’t look at everything in a vacuum and say, ‘All right, well now we did that here we got to do that there.’ We would hope that we’ve developed enough equity with the experience we have with our fan base, with the people watching over the last decade that people can trust that we’ve really put a lot of thought into this decision.”
“And as I’ve said we feel like this is the best way for us to move forward. The discussions have been really important and in particular those that involved Draymond and Jordan together. So when Bob and I assessed everything we decided that this was our choice,” he concluded.
Steve Kerr via Golden State Warriors YouTube
One reporter would also ask Kerr, “How can you be confident that these incidents are at an end particularly when he didn’t face any formal consequences for what happened here?”
“It’s fair,” Kerr replied. “Any criticism that we face here is fair. Draymond, I would say, you guys all know from covering him for a long time, he sort of lives on the edge. As far as his spot on our basketball team, he’s always right in the thick of everything. A couple of times in his career he has crossed the line. He crossed the line with Kevin whatever year that was and he crossed the line the other night in a worse fashion, much worse fashion.”
“So as I said, I would hope that everybody would respect the fact that we feel like we know Draymond and this entire group very well and that while this is not an easy decision we feel this is the best decision going forward and I trust Draymond that he will stay on that edge and not go over it.”
Steve Kerr via Golden State Warriors YouTube
What do you make of the Warriors just fining Green? What about Kerr’s explanation on why there was no suspension?