The 2022-23 NBA season didn’t start as planned for the Golden State Warriors, with an incident that happened in-house but became very public after footage of a fight in practice between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole was leaked.
Some would argue that the leaked footage and strained relationship between Green and Poole from then on out derailed the team’s hopes of repeating as NBA champions.
Ultimately, the Warriors flamed out during the NBA playoffs, with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers getting the best of them in six games in the second round.
Following the loss to the Lakers, the Warriors traded Poole this summer to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Chris Paul.
Warriors superstar Stephen Curry opened up about how the incident between Green and Poole impacted the team throughout the season on The Ringer’s “Real Ones” with Raja Bell and Logan Murdock.
Curry admitted that the incident between Green and Poole was a distraction and that the team had multiple conversations about how to mend the relationship and get the team focused on the season.
The four-time NBA champion also admits that the team felt as if time heals all wounds and this incident would soon be forgotten, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be the case.
Clearly, the incident impacted the team and had an impact on the 2022-23 campaign, which boiled over into the NBA offseason resulting in a trade and the team going in a different direction.
There was no love lost between Green and Poole, who remain at odds to this day, and that will likely be taken to another level with the Warriors and Wizards go head-to-head next season, as the veteran forward will almost certainly try and get into his head to gain an advantage on the floor.
With the Warriors having moved on from Poole and the incident, it’ll be interesting to see if the team can put it together for another championship run with Paul in the fold.