Draymond Green admits that Jordan Poole beef killed Warriors

Draymond Green was interviewed during the West Finals by Stephen A. Smith and the Warriors star admitted his incident with Jordan Poole hurt Golden State.

Even Golden State Warriors fans have grown accustomed to the often obnoxious antics of Draymond Green, but have long lived with it because of the success he has helped yield on the court. Prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, though, even Green is admitting that he played in a major role in planting the seeds for the Warriors’ playoff exit in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Lakers.

Of course, the incident in question was the now-infamous punch in which Green punched guard Jordan Poole, fresh off signing an extension with Golden State, in the face, leaving him with injuries.

Poole recently revealed that the beef changed the relationship between him and Green, going from an older brother in the youngster’s eyes to just a teammate he had a working relationship with on the floor. And Green seemed to back that up.

During an in-game interview conducted by Stephen A. Smith in the middle of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Nuggets, Green admitted that he believed the Warriors would still be alive in the playoffs if not for the incident with Poole — though he attributed that to him feeling like he needed to let the situation breathe and not be the vocal leader he often is.

Draymond Green: Warriors would still be in playoffs if not for Jordan Poole beef

There is definitely truth to what Green said on the matter in terms of the preseason incident clearly affecting the chemistry of the Warriors. And perhaps taking a backseat as a leader thereafter was a factor, but it’s also possible that one teammate decking another really divided the locker room irreparably.

Questions have arisen since the Warriors exited the playoffs about the viability of keeping Poole, who was horrendous in the series loss to Los Angeles, or if he needs to be traded to preserve chemistry. On top of that, Green is also a free agent, which raises a conundrum for Golden State as to what to do.

At the very least, though, it’s good that Draymond Green is willing to admit that his actions in the incident had longstanding effects on the Warriors — and he might be right that the team could still be alive if that hadn’t happened.

But now in the offseason, we’ll see if that incident was a blow that killed the Warriors in the 2022-23 season, or if it killed this proverbial dynasty with Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for good.