NBA champ downplays Warriors’ Draymond Green punch
Green is taking a few days away from the team
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors are dealing with the fallout from the video leaked to the public of Green punching teammate Jordan Poole at practice.
The video, which came from a closed practice last week, has shocked many throughout the NBA community, as Green viciously swings at Poole after getting in his teammates' face and being pushed back by Poole.
Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, enters the court prior to the Washington Wizards v Golden State Warriors - NBA Japan Games at Saitama Super Arena on Oct. 2, 2022 in Saitama, Japan. (Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)
On Saturday, Green announced that he would be taking a few days away from the team after the video found its way to the public.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WARRIORS INVESTIGATING VIDEO LEAK OF DRAYMOND GREEN PUNCH
While there has been discussion over whether Green should face a lengthy suspension – Golden State said Green would not miss any games prior to the video leak – one former NBA player does not think Green will be suspended and believes that the reaction to the punch is overblown.
"That behavior is uncommon in normal society, without question," two-time NBA champion Kenny Smith told TMZ Sports. "However, that behavior happens a lot in sports because of the physicality, the adrenaline, and all those things."
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"I thought it was going to be worse when I saw the video. I was like, 'Oh, they just got into a scuffle,'" Smith continued, adding that he thinks Green will be fined for the punch.
TNT Analyst, Kenny Smith talks during the Taco Bell Skills Challenge as part of 2022 NBA All Star Weekend on Feb. 19, 2022 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Smith, who now works as an analyst on TNT’s "Inside the NBA," said that he does not think Poole and Green will have any issues playing together after the altercation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I won two championships with like five guys who fought," Smith told TMZ.
WARRIORS’ DRAYMOND GREEN TO ‘TAKE A FEW DAYS AWAY’ AFTER VIDEO LEAKS OF PUNCH AT PRACTICE
Green told reporters on Saturday that he apologized to the team and to Poole, and specifically apologized to Poole’s family in his Saturday press conference.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jordan Poole, #3, and Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, celebrate against the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
"There's a huge embarrassment that comes with that [the video]. Not only for myself, as I was the one that committed the action … that’s something I’ll have to deal with," Green said. "But the embarrassment that Jordan has to deal with and that this team has to deal with, this organization has to deal with. But also Jordan's family. His family saw that video. His mother, his father saw that video.
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"And quite frankly, if my mother saw that video, I know how my mother would feel. I know what her reaction would be, and I know what her next step would be. And so for that, I apologize to his mother and his father."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Golden State is taking "every legal course of action" to discover how the video was released to the public, according to ESPN.