For much of the 2022-23 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors tried to act as if everything was just fine. Now that their campaign has ended though, they are finally opening up on how difficult things were behind the scenes.
During his exit interview, head coach Steve Kerr admitted that there was a loss of trust within the Warriors after Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole.
“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.”
“Anytime some trust is lost, then it makes the process much more difficult, and there was some trust lost,” Kerr said. “That’s as blunt as I can be. The only way to correct the course is to continue to communicate with players and coaches and those relationships have to be built, the bonds have to be built… We have to get back to what has made us really successful, which is a really trusting environment and a group that relies on one another and makes each other better.”
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There had been rumblings all season that the locker room camaraderie had been destroyed by that punch. They weren’t the Warriors of seasons past but instead, it was a bit of a tense environment and that’s never ideal. The fact that the video of the punch got leaked reportedly created distrust as well.
What we know for sure now, is that there is no relationship between Poole and Draymond after that incident. When Poole was asked about it recently, he stated he had no answer to that question, adding that they are just teammates and it’s just business.
Draymond Green Felt The Punch Led To The Warriors Not Winning It All In 2023
A less talked about angle in the aftermath of that incident was that Draymond wasn’t able to be his usual aggressive self in the locker room. Instead of holding people accountable, he had to take a backseat and let things play out, which led to some slippage in their play.
Green stated he only felt comfortable speaking up by around February but by that time, the Warriors had built those bad habits which cost them in the playoffs. Draymond firmly believes that if he hadn’t punched Poole, the Warriors would still be playing in the postseason today.
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