JP breaks silence on Draymond incident after 'long' few weeks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
More than 10 days after Jordan Poole was punched by Draymond Green during Warriors practice on Oct. 5, the 23-year-old guard broke his silence on the incident.
"He apologized and [was] professional," Poole told reporters at Chase Center on Sunday. "We plan on handling ourselves that way. We're here to play basketball and everybody on our team and in the locker room knows what it takes to win a championship, and we're going to do that on the court.
"That's really all I have to say on the matter. We're here to win a championship and keep hanging banners."
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Poole's comments came roughly two hours after he signed a contract extension with the Warriors reportedly for a guaranteed $123 million over four years, with the chance to earn an additional $17 million in incentives.
The contract extension and Poole's statement conclude a turbulent few weeks for the fourth-year pro.
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After the Warriors returned from a trip to Tokyo, Japan, Green approached Poole in practice, leading to the Michigan product shoving his elder teammate. At that point, Green reacted by leveling Poole with a punch.
In the immediate aftermath, Poole continued practicing last Wednesday and wasn't injured during the altercation. Green initially was sent home before returning to address the media the next day after video of the incident leaked. He then took time away from the Warriors to work on himself.
Less than a week later, Warriors coach Steve Kerr announced Green wouldn't be suspended. The team fined him an undisclosed amount and welcomed him back to practice this past Thursday.
He played in their preseason finale Friday and will be playing Tuesday in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center.
A day later, news of Poole's rookie-scale extension broke, two days ahead of the deadline for him to sign a new contract.
RELATED: Warriors secure Steph's successor with Poole's extension
When asked what the last two weeks have been like, Poole responded with one word.
"Long," Poole said.
For now, Poole and Green have the same goal: to help the Warriors win games and another NBA title. Whether or not their relationship can get back to what it was before Oct. 5 remains to be seen.
