Draymond Green responds to Jordan Poole quote with apologetic message – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

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Draymond Green left the Warriors’ win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday early with a calf injury, but the veteran forward still had something to say after the game.

Jordan Poole, who Green infamously punched during a Warriors preseason practice in October 2022, is with the Wizards now — and he made it clear he still has love for a majority of his former teammates after dropping 38 points at the Chase Center on Saturday.

“Yeah, I love those guys over there. I love most of those guys over there,” Poole told reporters after the game. “A really good group. A really good staff. Shout out to the fans. I saw a lot of 3 jerseys out there, a lot of JP3 jerseys, which is always really cool. I always get a lot of love (here). I spent some good quality time here , and it’s great to see it appreciated.”

After the first part of that quote was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Andscape’s Marc J. Spears after the game, Green responded to what appeared to be subtle nuance from Poole.

Green and Poole have both spoken about the incident on multiple occasions since it occurred over two years ago, with the Warriors forward recently describing it as one of the low points of his NBA career.

“I’ve always been a guy that no matter what, if somebody’s younger than me, I’m always going to pour into them,” Green told Penny Hardaway last month on “Two Cents Podcast.” “And I will say that I was kind of thrown into a vet role before I was ready to handle it, before I knew what it took to handle it. And I failed miserably.

“One of my biggest failures as a vet was what happened with Jordan Poole. It took me going through that failure with Jordan Poole, who was someone who came in and picked his locker to be next to me, because he wanted to learn from me. (He) was someone that I wanted to spend time with and that I wanted to pour into, and I (f–ed) it all.”

Poole, meanwhile, has been more candid about the situation and his relationship with Green in the aftermath.

“I don’t have an answer for you,” Poole told The Ringer’s Logan Murdock where things stand with Green after the Warriors were eliminated from the NBA playoffs in 2023. “Other than that, we were just on the court and the teammates and we were out there trying to win games.

“What I remember saying at the beginning of the season is that, ‘We’re coming. We’re coming out here. We’re going to play on the field. We’re going to try to win a championship.’ We were teammates. It’s just business, honestly. That’s all it’s been. It’s been business.”

Green has had plenty of ups and downs since the hit, including an indefinite suspension last season for repeated on-field altercations. But the 34-year-old hasn’t gotten into trouble so far in the 2024-25 NBA season — a sign he may have grown into his leadership role.

And with his post on Saturday night, it appears Green remains filled with remorse over the incident.

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