Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green's mother, Mary Babers-Green, became the latest to chime in on the controversial conduct displayed by her son during a team practice which resulted in a video leak showing the 32-year-old punching teammate Jordan Poole.
Originally released by TMZ, Green is seen on video approaching Poole and connecting on a vicious right-handed punch to the 23-year-old guard. While the Warriors, according to ESPN sources, are "aggressively investigating" the video and Green -- entering his 11th NBA season -- is taking a leave of absence, Babers-Green issued a questionable defense on her son's behalf.
"That wasn't a sucker punch," Babers-Green tweeted before deactivating her Twitter account, according to the New York Post. "Dray didn't aggressively go to Poole. His hands were down. Man to Man you go over to talk (to ask what's up, what you say)! Got shoved and reacted.. End of story!"
While a shove warranting a knockout blow to the face is a debate for another day, the fact of the matter remains that Green -- a recognized team leader who is also nine years older than Poole -- initiated the incident by approaching his teammate. While context is a major key in any situation as such, based on what's been released, it's ironic to see Green -- a notoriously over-the-top aggressive player -- rationalize taking a swing at a fellow Warriors player due to a shove.
Following the incident amid the video's release across the internet, Green issued an apology on Saturday.
"I watched the video 15 times, maybe more, because when I watched the video, I'm like, yo this looks awful," Green said, according to ESPN. "This looks even worse than I thought it was. It's pathetic."
The Warriors, fresh off their NBA Finals victory over the Boston Celtics back in June, are set to begin their 2022-2023 season campaign on Oct. 18 against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center.
