Ultimately, it was Jordan Poole and the Warriors locker room — not Adam Silver and the league office, not NBA pundits — who made the call.
The Golden State Warriors will fine — but not suspend — Draymond Green for his vicious punch of teammate Jordan Poole during a practice, coach Steve Kerr announced after Tuesday’s Warriors preseason game. Green will rejoin the team on Thursday and is expected to play in the team’s preseason game Friday and the season opener next Tuesday against the Lakers.
“We’ve spent the last week in deep discussions with all of our key figures in the organization, including Jordan [Poole] and Draymond, of course, Steph [Curry], all of our players, Bob [Myers, general manager], myself,” Kerr said. And I can tell you there have been a lot of conversations, individual one-on-one discussions, players only discussions…
“We feel like this is the best way, after assessing everything, for us to move forward. Never easy, no matter what decision you make in a situation like this. It’s not going to be perfect. This is the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had since I’ve been coaching. It’s really serious stuff.”
The most important of those conversations was a long one between Poole and Green, Kerr said.
This situation came down to relationships — just how broken was the one between the Warriors and Green, and could they trust him again? Four championships worth of equity has been built up between the Warriors and Green, and they understood that the intensity he plays with and makes him elite can cut both ways sometimes. In the end, they brought him back with the players’ blessing — partly because if they are going after another banner this season they will need his elite defense.
But Green has run out of chances with the Warriors — this is it. He’s got to make it work, starting Thursday in practice.
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Warriors fine — not suspend — Draymond Green for punching Poole originally appeared on NBCSports.com