Draymond Green Says GSW Would Still Be Playing If He Didn’t Punch Jordan Poole

Draymond Green is opening up in regards to the Warriors’ second-round playoff exit … saying his squad would nonetheless be alive IF he hadn’t socked Jordan Poole within the face earlier than the season began.

Green spoke to Stephen A. Smith Tuesday night time throughout Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Nuggets, and was sincere about the place he thinks issues went unsuitable this season.

“We’re not taking part in proper now as a result of if you converse in regards to the fouling, when you concentrate on the entire slippage that we had as a crew on the street, not with the ability to come collectively. None of these issues occur if that does not occur,” Green informed Smith, referring to when he punched the Warriors guard within the face in October.

Draymond continued … “None of these issues occur if that does not occur, as a result of the voice that I’m and the departments that I lead this crew in, there was a ton of slippage resulting from me sitting again, me not saying something, me attempting to permit that state of affairs to play itself out and provides it time to heal.”

Green — the emotional catalyst in the course of the Warriors’ dynasty — stated he felt like he misplaced his voice as a pacesetter after the Poole incident … and, consequently, it brought on a “ton of slippage” all through the season.

Green went on to say it wasn’t till February that he felt snug being the Draymond that helped the crew win 4 titles. But, at that time, an excessive amount of time had handed, and the Dubs had developed unhealthy habits, thwarting any attainable hopes of repeating as NBA champs.

“If that slippage has been occurring that lengthy, you might be who you might be at that time. You’ve constructed these habits. You’ve constructed unhealthy habits. That is who you are actually. So to attempt to right them then. It’s like, ‘OK, chances are you’ll get slightly higher.’ We did. We ended up within the second spherical of the playoffs however not at a championship degree.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr echoed the identical sentiments as Draymond throughout his end-of-the-season interview with the media … saying Green punching Poole “compromised issues.”