Draymond Green Says He ‘Was In A Place Of Hurt’ When He Punched Warriors Teammate Jordan Poole
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green revealed that before he punched his Golden State Warriors teammate Jordan Poole in the face during practice he was already in a very dark place mentally.
On Saturday (Oct. 8), the star forward met with reporters after announcing he was taking a leave from the defending NBA champs. During the 28-minute-plus interview, Green did not duck any questions nor did he try to defend his actions – the video of which recently emerged on social media, causing major backlash.
Green noted that he needs to work on some personal issues. "Hurt people, hurt people," he said. "And I was in a very contentious space that morning of dealing with some things that is very near and dear to me. And I hurt someone because I was in a place of hurt. And for that, I've apologized and you know you apologize with words but ultimately your actions show your apologies. So I've apologized with my words to my team, to Jordan and now I will allow my actions to show my apologies moving forward."
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Green, 32, also said he keeps his emotions bottled up inside and that can cause problems when they bubble over.
"Like I said before I have an issue with how to let my emotions out," he said. "Quite frankly, I like to keep my emotions in because I don't like to give people the power over my emotions. So I internalize them... I'm not saying that it's something [I] want to change, I want to keep my emotions to myself. But what I do want to change and I do need to work on is how they end up coming out. And how do you let them out without them coming out in a way that ultimately you regret. And this is one I sincerely regret."
Video of Green punching Poole leaked on Friday after reports that such a thing happened during practice on Wednesday. The Warriors confirmed the report on Thursday and stated that punishment would be handled internally.
Golden State’s management has launched an investigation into how the video of the closed practice became public.
