On Tuesday, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets hosted LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. During ESPN’s alternate broadcast of the game with Stephen A. Smith, a member of the Golden State Warriors joined the production.
Draymond Green joined Smith during the broadcast of the game. During their conversation, Green’s preseason punch incident with Jordan Poole came up. Green revealed some of the impact the punch had on the team leading to their struggles on the road throughout the season.
We’re not playing right now because when you speak about the fouling, when you speak about all of the slippage that we had as a team on the road, not being able to come together, none of those things happen if that doesn’t happen. Because of the voice that I am, the departments that I lead this team in, there was a ton of slippage due to me sitting back. Me not saying anything. Me trying to allow that situation to play itself out and giving it time to heal. But while you’re giving it all that time, guess what?
I’d say probably by February I started to feel myself again and speak more, but, guess what? There was There was five months of the season where slippage has just been occurring and by February, if that slippage has been going on that long, you are where you are at that point. You’ve built bad habits. That is who you are now.
So, to try to correct them then, okay. You might get a little bit better, and we did. We ended up in the second round of the playoffs. But not at a championship level.
Via @stephenasmith on Twitter:
Draymond Green told me that he believes the Warriors would still be playing if it wasn’t for the incident between him and Jordan Pool pic.twitter.com/B9txJCl0OY
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 17, 2023
Following the altercation between Green and Poole, the Warriors got off to a rough start to their title defense with eight straight losses on the road to start the season. Golden State’s road struggles loomed throughout the season, finishing the 2022-23 campaign with an 11-30 record away from San Francisco’s Chase Center.
Rebuilding the relationship between Poole and Green will be a key for Golden State’s future success. To get back to a championship caliber, the Warriors will need Poole and Green clicking on the court.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!