The NBA world is still reeling from the sensational leak by TMZ that showed Draymond Green punching out Jordan Poole during a Golden State Warriors practice. This incident leaking has caused a massive chain of events that has led to the Warriors having an internal investigation to figure out where the video leaked from.
Many people on Twitter were upset that people focused on finding out who leaked the video instead of correcting Draymond’s behavior. Marc Stein, on his Substack, revealed that NBA personnel isn’t surprised at players fighting during practice as altercations aren’t rare, but videos of them leaking are.
I took some grief Friday for tweeting that a practice-floor punch had been landed in the NBA at least a hundred times before. I certainly could have written the sentence with more sensitivity and less hyperbole, because the intent wasn’t to normalize such over-the-line behavior. Yet the larger point stands. I was merely trying to spotlight the uncharted territory that the TMZ video has hauled the Warriors into.
Altercations in NBA practices might not happen as frequently as they used to, but my checking with various coaches and players around the league in the past few days certainly supported the sentiment that they still happen far more often than we usually end up hearing on the outside.
The details, in many cases, tend to be kept quiet. (h/t Marc Stein – Substack)
If players, coaches, and other NBA personnel agree that Draymond and Poole fighting isn’t an issue but the video being leaked is, we are better off trusting them because that proves the Warriors franchise could be extremely vulnerable to future leaks as well.
Are We Focusing On The Right Thing?
It’s still hard to just move on from the fight Draymond and Poole had to graduate to a witch hunt for the person who leaked the video. It’s understandable from an NBA organization perspective but fans won’t understand why Draymond is allowed to just punch teammates. That video leaking has made the optics for Draymond look pretty bad.
The Warriors are a championship-winning franchise and Draymond has been a franchise leader for years. He’s going to earn his teammates’ trust back and the Warriors will compete on the court as if nothing happened. Even then, the franchise needs to ensure that the one leaking information to TMZ is neutralized and can’t disrupt their season again.
