The Golden State Warriors have gotten off to a slow start to the 2022-23 NBA season.
Despite coming into the year hoping to repeat as champs, it has been one pitfall after another.
First a bunch of free agents left. Then there was the summertime incident where Draymond Green mercilessly punched Jordan Poole. And then after that, of course, was just the way everyone struggled to get on the same page on the court once the season actually commenced.
Eighteen games into the year Golden State is 8-10. That places them 11th in the West – ahead of only the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.
Not great.
Many have wondered whether Green’s leadership status within the organization has been hampered by his decision to punch Poole.
This week, an answer emerged.
“As far as Draymond’s standing as a leader, yeah, I think he understands that based on what happened you can’t just walk right back in the room and assume that. But it’s been awhile, people are tired on the team of the way we’re playing, I’m sure the coaches are tired of it, and I think Draymond felt, ‘I’m gonna say something,’” team general manager Bob Myers said this past week.
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“He does have a ton of equity within that room as far as what he’s done. Certainly I don’t think he’s proud of what he did on that day, but there’s a lot of good that he’s done and a lot of times he’s spoken to the team where they responded.”
It will be interesting to see where the Warriors go from here. Obviously, as Kevin Durant made clear, what Green did to Poole was not normal.
What a week for Spencer Rattler. https://t.co/vFVgnk8EiM
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 23, 2022
Thus, it would make sense that his standing within the locker room would take a hit.
That said, things change. And with enough time, maybe all parties involved can sort of move on.
Once that happens, and once Green regains some semblance of normalcy in the locker room, hopefully the Warriors will be able to get back on track.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
