One of the lowest points of Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green’s career came in October 2022, when he punched then-teammate Jordan Poole during a practice session. The incident would cause a rift between the two teammates and played a part in the Warriors trading away Poole to the Washington Wizards in 2023.
There has been a lot of speculation about why Green punched Poole, and a clip recently went viral that claimed to show the events leading up to the hit. Some comments from it came to Green’s attention on Threads, and he made it clear it was all fake.
The clip from “LegendZ” claimed that tensions between Poole and Green began on November 10, 2021. The two were seen exchanging words during a timeout in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It has been alleged that Green told Poole, “I’mma beat the s*** out of you. I will f*** you up.”
The clip then references some past comments made by Gilbert Arenas. Green had supposedly called out Poole for not being able to beat the first unit in practice and told him he had to earn his contract. The guard did not react, but head coach Steve Kerr reportedly pulled him aside and told him, “Stand up for himself. Be a man.”
Poole responded by dominating in a scrimmage and then talking trash to Green after he had missed a shot. He is said to have called the veteran forward an expensive backpack for Stephen Curry, which has been reported in the past as well. Green did not respond at the time, but would go on to punch Poole in the next practice session.
What Draymond Green Said To Jordan Poole In 2021đź‘€:
“Imma beat the sh*t out of you! I’ll f*ck you up”
He also challenged Poole in a practice: “You wanna fight me?”
That led to their 2022 fight. Poole said: “you’re an expensive backpack for 30”, and Green called him a “b*tch”. pic.twitter.com/ubPK4xLRNB
— LegendZ (@legendz_prod) August 25, 2025
How much truth is there to any of this? Well, only the people involved can give you the answer to that question. Green has denied it, and it’s doubtful Kerr or Poole would have any interest in speaking on the matter.
Poole hasn’t spoken much about the incident itself, but Green has. The 2017 Defensive Player of the Year has vacillated between apologizing to his former teammate and blaming him.
Green once stated you can’t call someone a “b***h” and push him and not expect to get hit. On another instance, the four-time All-Star said one of his biggest failures as a veteran was what happened with Poole.
As for Green’s latest thoughts on the punch on Poole, he stated that he is still learning lessons and admitted that he made a mistake.
“Age thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, I still learning those lessons,” Green said. “That situation happened, I’m like, ‘All right, cool, we move on.’ And then when we couldn’t, I was like, huh. And for a while, it made me think like, ‘Man, this dude nothing like me.’ Cuz when those things happen, you just move on.
“But it taught me so much because it taught me, you’re right, he may not be like you,” Green continued. “He ain’t from where you from. The things you went through, the way you had to come up, he may not have came up like that. So, for that five seconds, I forgot where I was at. Because I immediately went to what I know.
But what you know don’t really work here,” Green added. “And everybody say, ‘Oh man, but you was ten years in, you should know better.’ Still learning, nine years in. But, it’s them lessons like that ultimately make me who I am to this day because, man, I f**ed that up.”
One wonders what might have been if Green had never punched Poole. The Warriors were the defending NBA champions at the time, and they would never quite end up coming together after this incident.
Poole, unsurprisingly, wasn’t quite the same after the punch, but he does seem to be getting back to his best now. The 26-year-old averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Wizards in 2024-25. It will be interesting to see if Poole takes another step in the right direction in 2025-26.
