Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green revealed that he is still trying to fix his relationship with teammate Jordan Poole after the pair’s practice last October.
Footage emerged before the start of the NBA season of Green punching Poole during a Warriors training session.
The forward admitted the incident had changed the dynamic between the duo but said it was gradually improving, as they maintained a sense of professionalism throughout the season.
Draymond Green has revealed that he is still working to mend his relationship with Jordan Poole
‘We go to work every day together,’ he said in an interview with Taylor Rooks. Our lockers are next to each other, never changed. We ride the same bus together, we change in the same locker room on the road — nothing has changed.
‘Of course, did it change our relationship. Absolutely. It is still under construction. I’ll always be willing to continue to do that work because I was wrong.
‘I see improvements, day by day, week by week, month by month I see improvements,’ he added.
That’s all you can ask for. I don’t expect him to come out and be like, ‘Man, I want to come out on the court with you.’ I didn’t expect that. I’m not stupid.
‘[…] It’s kind of what I was hoping for but it’s a work in progress because it’s so important to building our team and the success of our team. So, I keep doing the work.’
The Golden Warriors star punched Poole during a preseason training session
Green also admitted he watched the clip, originally obtained by TMZ, over and over again after it was released and claimed it was like ‘going through hell’.
‘When that was released, I was going through so many emotions,’ said Green. ‘Like, I’m disgusted. How is it released? Going through hell because you are at the mercy of public opinion.’
However, he claimed that the three-second clip did not tell the whole story and was released to portray him in a certain light, before insisting that one day he would reveal the full context of the incident.
‘As someone who was involved in the incident, watching the video I completely forgot everything that happened,’ he said.
‘Because of the video, you’re watching and there’s no audio video, you’re watching a three-second clip of me walking, and I swing. That’s what you see. That video was put out there like that to show me exactly how it was done.
Green said the clip didn’t tell the whole story and was released to portray him in a certain way
‘Does that mean I didn’t make a mistake in what I did? No, that’s not what it means. 100 percent wrong reaction. But in everything, there is also a whole story. I don’t mind sharing my story. Someday I will…’
When Rooks asked for clarification on whether Green believed the release was calculated, he replied, ‘100 percent,’ arguing that no other video from a Warriors practice had been leaked.
The short clip shows an altercation between Green and his teammate Poole, with Green first trying to square Poole up.
In response, Poole pushed Green away, before the latter connected with a brutal sucker punch, leaving Poole on the ground as staff and players descended to calm the situation.
The Warriors announced shortly after that Green would not be suspended, and any punishment would be handled internally.
The forward admitted the incident had changed their dynamic but said it was slowly improving
However, the team is said to be pursuing every legal course of action’ to discover how the shocking footage came to be.
In October, after the clip was made public, Green decided to address the media – calling the leakers ‘bulls***’ – while also apologizing to his teammate.
He also announced his decision to ‘walk away’ from Golden State for a few days as the frenzy died down but returned for the Warriors for their final preseason game on October 14 as he and Poole left their against.
