Green's apology too little too late as Warriors desperately miss dynamic guard

When the first report came out, Golden State Warriors fans rolled their eyes. Draymond Green had gotten into a fight with Jordan Poole at a preseason practice. Fans had gotten used to this sort of drama with Draymond and didn’t think much of it.

Then, when the video of the “fight” was leaked, everything changed. Quickly the Warriors went from the standing NBA champions with an improving roster ready to repeat, to a dysfunctional team whose drama was going to turn their title defense non-existent. Fast-forward to Saturday's matchup between the Warriors and Wizards, and another chapter of the Green-Poole saga was written. 

Draymond Green's apology is too little too late from a Warriors perspective

The game itself was a bit too close for comfort from a Golden State standpoint. Poole showed the Warriors what they were missing in a classic offensively dominant performance, having come out firing and hitting everything in his old stomping grounds. Poole went for 38 points, five rebounds and five assists, including going 8-of-15 from 3-point range.

Former teammates and fans all enjoyed the performance, especially since the Dubs were able to eek out the win. Poole was seen joking throughout the game and talking smack. The vibes were generally positive. This may have been due to the fact that Draymond left the game early with an apparent injury. 

After the game Poole spoke about his time in Golden State, taking a slight shot at Draymond in the process. Poole said, “ I love those guys over there. I love most of those guys over there”. There is no doubt that Draymond is probably who Poole is referring to. 

Draymond took to Twitter to respond to Poole’s comments, tweeting “I really am sorry” in response to Marc J. Spears posting Poole’s quote. It likely is too little too late. It doesn’t seem like Poole is ready to put the drama behind him, and it is hard to blame him. Getting sucker punched by someone you admire and trust is a hard thing to overcome. 

So the Green-Poole saga continues. Draymond is sorry and Poole doesn’t seem to care. Draymond has made it clear that what happened with Poole is one of the biggest regrets of his career. He may never live it down. 

One thing is for sure. The Warriors could really use someone like Poole on their roster right now. The young guard was traded (with picks!) for Chris Paul, who the Warriors eventually let go for nothing.

Having a dynamic scorer and playmaker like Poole would also have prevented the need for the Dennis Schroder trade. So as we experienced the wrong side of a “Poole Party” on Saturday, it was impossible not to miss him a Warrior jersey.