Draymond Green would like to move on from one unfortunate incident that took place two-plus years ago.
The Warriors' veteran forward, in response to former teammate Jordan Poole seemingly throwing shade his way after Golden State's 122-114 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday at Chase Center, apologized to Poole in a viral social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying he was "sorry" for punching the young guard in a practice before the 2022-23 NBA season.
I really am sorry
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) January 19, 2025
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Green, on the latest episode of his podcast, "The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis," explained why he chose to respond to Poole's comments with the apology.
📹@Money23Green explains apology to Jordan Poole pic.twitter.com/c1ncbN1v1W
— The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis (@DraymondShow) January 22, 2025
"I responded because, you know, like it's been three years," Green told Davis. "Like, let's move on. We moved on. We're supposed to move on. And I really am sorry. That statement was kind of like it was looking for some sympathy. They keep wanting to make me out to be the bad guy, move on, bro. It is what it is. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have punched him. But it happened, let's move on.
"I even apologized to his parents. His dad popped off one time on the internet and I went back at him because it was like, 'bro, why are you popping off?' And I actually didn't like myself for it because I wasn't even on that. I kind of let him get me off my square a little bit. Because I've said what I've said about it."
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Green recalls what Poole said and did to him on the court during the practice that preceded the punch and how he could have handled it differently.
"I kind of be going back and forth on this, like, I be kind of in between on certain days like 'Yo, I know I was wrong, but you can't call a man a b-word and push him and not get hit either,'" Green shared. "I kind of sit in both of those spaces sometimes. And the answer is probably somewhere in the middle, like I shouldn't have knocked him out like that, if anything I should have hemmed him up, it kind of was just a natural reaction. So the reality is I probably should have hemmed him up or something like that."
After a disappointing 2022-23 season for Poole and the Warriors, the young guard was traded to the Washington Wizards later that summer in exchange for veteran guard Chris Paul.
Poole since has established himself as one of Washington's cornerstone players and currently is having the best season of his six-year NBA career, averaging career-highs in points (21.4), assists (4.7), steals (1.5) and 3-point shooting (40.2 percent) through 35 games.
Which leaves Green to wonder why his former teammate continues to breathe new life into the discourse surrounding the incident from two seasons ago.
"I think for him, though, you kind of bring that back up on yourself," Green explained. "When you do that, you just bring back that moment up on yourself. You just kinda got to move on and keep pushing, man. You got to let it go."
There is no question the punch negatively impacted the Warriors that season. Green himself even admitted as much after Golden State was bounced from the NBA playoffs. However, now the veteran forward believes all parties need to move on.