Golden State Warrior Draymond Green apologized to Jordan Poole, his family, and the Warriors for punching Poole at practice last week and will be stepping away from the team for a few days.
“I apologized to his family for what they’ve had to deal with over the course of the last 24 to 48 hours. And I will do what I have to do to make that right,” said Green during a press conference. “I was wrong for my actions that took place Wednesday. And for that, I have apologized to my team. I have apologized to Jordan.”
Days after the initial reports on the incident, which the team played down, a video surfaced.
“With the video leaking, there’s a huge embarrassment… that Jordan has to deal with, that this team has to deal with, this organization has to deal with but also Jordan’s family.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported that the Warriors plan on taking “every possible legal action” to find the source of the leak, and conferred with the league about steps to identify how the video got out.
“His family saw that video. His mother, his father saw that video. If my mother saw that video, I know how my mother would feel,” said Green.
The four-time champion, entering his 11th season in the league, also apologized for the impact the incident will have on the team’s ring ceremony.
“That’s an elephant in the room,” said Green.”On a night when there should be celebration and love, and there still will be, but there is this dark cloud in the room. And I caused that.”
Green has a player option at the end of the season and could become a restricted free agent in 2024.
Poole is in negotiations for a rookie extension, with an October 17 deadline to reach a new deal.