Draymond Green made it through practice Thursday in his return to the Golden State Warriors without throwing his fists at anyone.
Green had been on a brief hiatus from basketball following his punch of teammate Jordan Poole, in which a leaked — and startling — video of the altercation got the four-time NBA champion in incredibly hot water and sent shockwaves around the league.
The relationship Green, who reportedly already apologized to his teammates, now has with Poole has taken center stage for the Warriors and overshadowed Golden State beginning its quest to repeat as NBA champs.
“As far as us moving forward, Jordan is a professional and I’m a professional,” Green told reporters, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. “We have a job to do … we’re going to do just that.”
It appears Green won’t go to any great lengths to mend his relationship with Poole. It seems Green is fine with them being only co-workers and doesn’t know if they’ll get back to the rapport they had previously before the fight.
“I’m not sure,” Green said, per Andrews. “But I don’t think there’s much relevancy there, frankly … we both know how to play basketball, and that’s the most important thing.”
Green was also asked if he needs to win back his teammates’ trust, but he believes it’s more about not losing the team’s togetherness.
“I think camaraderie is a strength of ours and I don’t think that’ll be taken away by an incident,” Green said, per Andrews.
Green is expected to play in Golden State’s preseason finale on Friday with the fight between Green and Poole hanging over the Warriors. Ironically enough, Green will get the starting nod, which will send Poole back to the bench.
It will be interesting though to see how the two interact with each other on and off the floor at the game, and when things get more serious when the Warriors open up their title defense next Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
