Draymond Green and Jordan Poole’s locker room dustup last year is still regarded as one of the reasons behind their playoff run this season.
And according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, the franchise is “operating under the assumption that both Green and Poole can again be on the same roster and push toward the same championship goal next season without issue.”
Note that the focus is on “without issue”, and that in a way implies that all might still not be good between the veteran forward and the young gun — both of whom have come under immense criticism individually for their performances.
The locker room skirmish between the two also had head coach Steve Kerr opine that some of the trust was lost in the team.
“I think some of that was lost this year, for sure,” Kerr said when asked about the Warriors’ ethos in terms of culture, joy, and chemistry. “There’s no hiding from it, the incident with Draymond and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that. It’s hard for that not to impact a team.”
Now, Green’s future is one of the things the team will have to worry about, considering Poole’s salary goes from $3.9 million to $27.4 million next season. Will they retain their core and give them one last shot at getting another title? Or will Poole and Green find new homes? For now, it looks like the former is what’s being looked at.
Draymond Green Believed His Punch-Up With Jordan Poole Had An Adverse Effect On The Team
Always one to keep it honest and unabashed, the veteran believed that his punching Poole was one of the reasons behind the team’s sine-wave run this season.
“We’re not playing right now because when you speak about the foul and all the slippage we had on the road as a team, not being able to come together. None of those things happen if that (punching Poole) doesn’t happen because of the voice and departments I lead this team in, there was a ton of slippage due to me sitting back, not saying anything, me allowing that situation to play itself out and giving it time to heal. Why are you giving it time to heal? I would say by February I started to feel like myself again but guess what, there were five months of the season where slippage kept occurring.
“By February, if the slippage has been going on for that long, you are who you are. You built those habits, so try to correct them then. You may get a little better, we ended up in the second round of the playoffs, but not at a championship level.”
Credit to Green for putting it out there, but there’s no denying that their forms were equally instrumental in the team not living up to the desired expectations. Maybe, the Warriors will be keen to run it back and hope that Golden State can finish strong with another title before their core bows out.
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