Steve Kerr Finally Admitted That Draymond Green Punching Jordan Poole Basically Ruined The Entire Warriors Season
You know what's kind of crazy? We still have no idea who leaked the practice video of Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole
in the face.
Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of investigation? Here we are a few years later and we still don't really know the details surrounding that. It's like the Draymond punch video and the whole Ime Udoka being horny in the office thing that has seemingly just been swept under the rug even after all this time. We'll probably never get the full details on either which is disappointing, but there's no denying that singular punch changed the Warriors franchise moving forward. They had to make a choice between Draymond and Poole and chose Draymond (gave him a $100M extension), shipped Poole off to the Wizards and since that moment the Warriors have either lost in the 2nd round or missed the playoffs altogether.
While we don't know who leaked the initial video, what we do now have is Steve Kerr publicly confirming that Draymond basically ruined their entire season
This might be the most obvious "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ya think" in history. While I'm not in an NBA locker room, I watch enough NBA basketball to know that chemistry might be the most important ingredient to any successful team/franchise. Once you screw that up, everything goes to shit. It's sort of like a house of cards type of situation. When chemistry is at an all time high, a team is capable of anything. We saw it with the earlier versions of the Warriors, we just saw it with the 2024 Celtics etc. But we've also seen the other side of that coin and how bad chemistry can ruin your season before it even starts, and that Warriors team is a perfect example.
It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to know that a player sucker punching his teammate at practice probably isn't the best chemistry move. Granted it did seem like there was already an underlying issue between Poole/Draymond
but it is interesting to hear Kerr come out and basically confirm what we all already knew. In all this time after the punch I don't think we've ever had him say this publicly, so that was new.
At the end of the day though, their Draymond problem extends far past that singular punch. As we know, they rewarded his actions with that $100M extension, and they continue to enable him even after the additional bullshit he's done in the following seasons. Every year it's something, whether it's stomping on an opposing player's chest or putting another opposing player in a chokehold, you could make the case that Draymond's actions have tanked not one, but two Warriors seasons.
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Will they ever do anything about it? For sure not. Their hands are tied. They shipped Klay off and have essentially committed to the Draymond/Steph plan. The only problem now is their roster isn't exactly built to sustain another Draymond suspension, and while some may have figured now was the time to flip that asset and officially turn the page, in reality it's going to be another year of everyone from the players to Steve Kerr holding their breath for the next 6-8 months praying Draymond doesn't do something stupid that ruins yet another season.
Can he do it? We're about to find out.