The Golden State Warriors decided not to suspend Draymond Green for his shocking action of punching out teammate Jordan Poole during a Warriors’ practice. The punch was surprising enough, but the decision not to suspend Draymond was not received well by everyone, especially considering Green was suspended for arguing with Kevin Durant during a game in 2019.
Joe Lacob decided to reveal the truth about why the Warriors didn’t suspend Draymond this time around. He credited factors like the equity Green has earned with the decision-makers for his decade-long stay with the team and 4 championships to show for it. However, the main factor was the ring ceremony that Draymond would have missed if he was suspended
“He earned this [ring ceremony]. I wouldn’t take that away from him.”
Joe Lacob shares why Draymond didn’t get suspended for his altercation with JP pic.twitter.com/b4Q01WuUd8
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 19, 2022
“Look, I have to be honest. Really honest. I wasn’t all that flustered by it. It’s obviously a serious situation and no one wants to see that in any workplace, no question about it. I know Draymond knows that, he’s apologized to the team, management, me, and everybody. It was a mistake, you know? But he’s earned a lot of equity over a long period of time with us and that’s why everybody is asking ‘why is he not suspended for ring night?’ Look, I am just going to be perfectly honest, he earned this, and I don’t want to take this away from him. We stake it seriously, believe me. He was fined to the maximum and took some time away from the team and he’s obviously got some repair work to do , we all know that, he knows that. We believe in Draymond, we believe in our team culture, and we are going to move forward.”
It was good for Lacob to be honest with everyone about the situation. Ultimately, it only matters what Poole thinks of this situation as he is the one who has to co-exist with Draymond on-court.
Are Draymond Green And Jordan Poole Going To Co-Exist?
Tempers run hot in the NBA, as Draymond clearly showed with his punch. As the season progresses, the heat will be turned up on the Warriors, and those moments of stress will be the best indicator of how well the team gets along.
Green is still a veteran and a starter on the Warriors, so he needs to be respected by everyone in the locker room. That respect will only be earned by everyone seeing that Green is genuinely remorseful for treating Poole the way he did.
If the rest of the teammates’ sense Draymond’s actions to repair the relationship are earnest, Poole will feel it too, and this team can move on from this to focus on their title defense campaign.
