It’s been a big 24-48 hours for Golden State Warriors’ forward Draymond Green, with the future hall-of-famer causing quite the stir with his recent comments on ‘The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone’.
Covering everything from the training camp incident with Jordan Poole, the young guard’s departure, and his new teammate in Chris Paul, Green has left many Warrior fans frustrated and nervous that his actions could again impact the team next season.
Draymond Green’s comments threaten to destabilize the Golden State Warriors’ culture before the 2023-24 season even begins.
The Green-Poole fiasco appears at the top of the agenda right now. The 33-year-old seemingly engaged in a back-and-forth with Poole’s father on Twitter on Wednesday, while he also fell for a fake quote attributed to Kevin Garnett.
But while that entire debacle isn’t really trending positively for the Warrior veteran, it’s actually his comments regarding Paul that could produce more of a negative impact. Afterall, the 38-year-old point-guard is now Green’s teammate while Poole finds himself in Washington.
“I’ve publicly said I didn’t like Chris [Paul] before”, Green said. “I’m just not going to be like ‘oh man that changed now he my teammate.’ No, I look forward to talking amongst men…I’ve had my fair share of days not working with adults and people who don’t move like adults, so I’m looking forward to going to work with an adult.”
Green’s initial comments on Paul aren’t ideal, even if he’s simply being honest and offers somewhat of a compliment in regard to the ‘working with an adult’ remark at the end. Still, it poses further question marks on the 12-time All-Star’s fit at the franchise, and whether he and Green will be able to make it work throughout a long, arduous season.
More than that though, the whole ‘adult’ point had to be at least a slight dig at Poole. It makes you wonder what Golden State’s remaining younger players, the likes of Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, will make of those comments.
However you feel about the situation, there’s no doubt that Green impacted and ultimately helped end Poole’s career at the Warriors. The last thing the team needs is a similar scenario playing out again with another of their talented young prospects.
In their aspirations to return to championship glory, presenting a united front is simply a prerequisite for Golden State next season. While Green’s comments on Poole are needless and to many immature, it’s his treatment of teammates that are a much bigger concern for Warrior fans anticipating a response from their team in 2023-24.