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One fight between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole is all it took for the Golden State Warriors to witness the beginning of the end. Austin Rivers feels like most people on the issue, that it was the beginning of the end. That punch sent a tailspin in the Warriors 2022-23 season. After that year, Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards.
Still, Rivers feels that the team could've had something special. He explained on his podcast, Off Guard, about how the video surfacing was when Golden State was in trouble.
“Whoever leaked it messed up the whole organization,” Rivers said. “I mean, that video was the beginning of I would say the downfall of that organization. It cut their run because you look at the last championship they won. They were getting a huge contribution from youth.
“This led people to be like ‘Oh man, maybe Steph can age, and Klay can age gracefully because they got this new talent. They can have this thing they’re doing now, and it just didn’t go that way because the main piece at that time was JP.”
Poole was a pivotal part of the Warriors 2022 NBA Finals win. As Rivers said, his youth elevated everyone around him. Plus, his never-ending confidence was a key element in Game 2. His 17 points and five-made threes helped Golden State secure that win.
Warriors' Draymond Green has been clowned by Jordan Poole's fans
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While the move was unjustified, to say the least, the Golden State forward did his best to make things right. However, as Green issued an apology to Poole, Wizards fans relentlessly roasted him. Funny enough, Rivers understands what the Washington fans are saying. He has a simple message for Green.
“Draymond just don’t respond man, and here’s why you don’t respond, because you messed up,” Rivers said. “I don’t care what Jordan said, you’re twice his size, you’re way older than him, and you sucker punched him.
“Again, he didn’t know the whole world was going to see it. So in hindsight, this should’ve just been an internal issue. If that video doesn’t get out, Jordan Poole is probably still on the Warriors.”
At the end of the day, there's a world of hypotheticals where this situation doesn't happen. If that's the case, the NBA could look a lot different. As Austin Rivers mentioned, the Warriors would allow their stars to age gracefully if Poole was still around. However, he's elevating his game in the Nation's Capital.
He's averaging career highs with 21.4 points, 40.2% from 3-point range, 4.7 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game. Golden State could use his emerging game right about now.
