Jordan Poole Breaks Silence After Draymond Green Punch
Golden State Warriors star Jordan Poole has given insight into his mentality for the upcoming NBA season following his physical incident with teammate Draymond Green.
Earlier this month, Green punched Poole in the face after a verbal altercation between the two turned physical. Poole recently spoke about his desire to move forward from the altercation and focus on his team’s mission to “keep hanging banners” during an interview with the Mercury News.
More from VIBE.com
“We’re here to win a championship and keep hanging banners,” Poole told reporter Madeline Kenney in reference to the upcoming 2022-2023 NBA season, which kicks off on Tuesday (Oct. 18), when the Warriors will face the Los Angeles Lakers for their season opener.
“It was amazing. It was truly, truly special,” Poole said. “I couldn’t stop smiling, I really tried to stop smiling but I couldn’t."
Poole's remarkable ascension from potential bust to cornerstone of the future led him to this moment https://t.co/DCynPKju5Z— Madeline Kenney (@madkenney) October 16, 2022
Poole, who recently inked a lucrative contract extension with the Warriors following a breakout campaign during the team’s 2021-2022 regular season and championship run, also revealed that Green has apologized to him personally regarding the incident.
Green, who was fined by the Warriors organization and chose to step away from the team in the wake of the altercation, has since returned to the fold ahead of the season opener and is expected to be in the lineup. The 32-year-old power forward has voiced his own disappointment in his actions and issued a public statement addressing Poole and his family, as well as his Warriors teammates and the basketball association as a whole.
“No. 1, I was wrong for my actions,” he expressed shortly after the incident, which occurred on Oct. 5 during a team practice. “There’s a huge embarrassment that comes with [this]. Not only for myself, as I was the one who committed the action … but the embarrassment that Jordan has to deal with and that this team has to deal with, this organization has to deal with. But also Jordan’s family. His family saw that video. His mother, his father saw that video. If my mother saw that video, I know how my mother would feel.”
This past weekend, Poole reportedly signed a four-year rookie contract extension worth up to $140 million with the Warriors. The move is believed to cement the 23-year-old’s future as one of its core stars as the team looks to extend its championship window through the next decade.
According to reports, $123 million of the deal is guaranteed, with the rest falling under various incentives based on team success and production. Green has previously voiced his desire to reach his own $164 million max contract extension with the Warriors but has yet to reach an agreement with the team.