Draymond Green has taken it too far again with the Warriors.
In the latest incident, he reportedly punched his teammate Jordan Poole in the face during a heated altercation during practice and now is looking at being punished by the Warriors via Bleacher Report.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is facing discipline stemming from an altercation with Jordan Poole during Wednesday’s practice.
Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson, the Warriors are “seriously considering disciplinary action” against Green after a “heated interaction” with Poole in which they were chest-to-chest before pushing and shoving each other.
After that, Green “forcefully struck Poole, and the two needed to be separated. The team stopped practice in an attempt to “settle nerves” in the locker room.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted Green swung at and made contact with Poole.
The report noted Green and Poole “regularly” get into verbal arguments behind the scenes, but the belief from Warriors management and leadership was that incident went too far.
Even though it seems like everyone with the Warriors understands Green’s attitude and practice habits, Wednesday’s incident appears to have gone beyond the usual level of antagonism.
Green and Poole are two of the most important players on Golden State’s roster as the team prepares to defend its NBA championship. Poole ranked third on the team with 18.5 points per game and made 36.4 percent of his three-point attempts.
Green remains one of the best defensive players in the league. He also led the club with 7.0 assists and tied for the team lead with 7.3 rebounds per game in 46 games last season.
Both also have a lot at stake this season. Poole is seeking a long-term contract extension entering the final year of his rookie deal. Green is going into the last guaranteed year of his current contract that also has a $27.6 million player option for 2023-24.
It is doubtful that Green will be offered a max extension with the Warriors, meaning he would have to take a pay cut. The Warriors would like to keep Poole with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson getting up in age.
While the punch landed from Draymond he wasn’t able to knock Poole out.
Flip the pages to see why Poole’s demeanor has changed since the Warriors won the title.