Draymond Green Was Fined, Not Suspended, For Hitting Jordan Poole

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr announced Tuesday that Draymond Green was fined but not suspended for hitting teammate Jordan Poole in practice.

Kerr made the announcement after Golden State’s preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers, calling the situation “the biggest crisis we’ve ever had.” He declined to say how much the fine would be.

“He’ll be back for practice on Thursday,” Kerr said. “He’s been fined. He won’t be suspended. I expect him to play in our last preseason game on Friday and on opening night.”

“The biggest crisis we’ve ever had”

Kerr said that “key figures” in the organization, including Green, Poole, Stephen Curry and general manager Bob Myers, were involved in discussions leading to the decision on Green’s punishment.

“It was an exhausting process,” Kerr continued. … “After evaluating everything, we believe that this is the best way to move forward. It’s never easy, no matter what decision you make in a situation like this. It won’t be perfect.

“This is the biggest crisis we’ve had since I’ve been coach here. It’s really serious.”

Kerr added that he trusts Green and that the Warriors veteran deserves the benefit of the doubt.

“I trust him,” Kerr said. “He broke our trust with this incident. But I give him the leap of faith because I think he deserves it. I think our team feels the same way.”

Green punched Poole in the jaw

Green apologized on Saturday after reports on Friday that he had beaten Poole in training. Sources told Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill that tensions have been smoldering between Green and Poole since the start of the training camp. Both players are eligible for contract extensions and Poole, 23, is widely expected to receive an extension while Green’s long-term future with the franchise remains unclear. Green, 32, has played a key role in helping the Warriors win four NBA championships.

The story goes on

Following the reports, TMZ released a video leaked from the Warriors’ training session, showing Green stepping on Poole’s chest amid an apparent verbal confrontation, then punching Poole in the jaw and throwing him to the ground.

Green told reporters that he apologized to Poole, his family and the Warriors for “the embarrassment” caused by the attack, stating, “I failed as a leader. I failed as a man.”

“I was wrong about my actions on Wednesday,” Green said. “I apologized to my team for that. I apologized to Jordan.”

He denied the attack had anything to do with his or Poole’s contract situation.

“I can assure you I don’t count other people’s bags,” Green added.

Why wasn’t Green suspended?

The Warriors previously disciplined Green over an altercation with a teammate. The team suspended him for a single game in 2018 citing “Team-damaging behavior.” At that time he called his teammate at the time Kevin Durant a “slut” during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. He didn’t hit Durant.

Kerr was asked why Green wasn’t suspended this time.

“Every situation is completely different,” Kerr said. “We don’t look at everything in a vacuum and say, ‘Well, we did that here, we have to do that there.’ We would hope that with the experience we’ve had with our fanbase, we’ve done enough justice with what people have watched over the last ten years that people can trust that we really put a lot of thought into this decision .