Subscribe
Follow Us
The Golden State Warriors certainly aren't off to the start they wanted in 2022-23. Just over a month into the regular season, though, a team meeting led by Draymond Green has sparked some much-needed optimism in San Francisco—not to mention revealed that his longtime status as the Dubs' emotional leader remains intact.
Bob Myers addressed Green's standing in the locker room during a Tuesday appearance on 95.7 The Game. Alluding to his role in last week's pivotal players-only meeting, the Warriors' general manager maintained that Green still holds sway in Golden State's locker room despite his preseason punch to Jordan Poole.
As Myers sees it, Green only took the initiative to speak from a leadership once he knew Poole and his teammates were ready for him to do so.
Article Continues Below“As far as Draymond's standing as a leader, yeah, I think he understands that based on what happened you can't just walk right back in the room and assume that. But it's been awhile, people are tired on the team of the way we're playing, I'm sure the coaches are tired of it, and I think Draymond felt, ‘I'm gonna say something,'” Myers said. “He does have a ton of equity within that room as far as what he's done. Certainly I don't think he's proud of what he did on that day, but there's a lot of good that he's done and a lot of times he's spoken to the team where they responded.”
The Warriors have been typically mum on fallout from Green's vicious preseason punch to Poole since its immediate aftermath in early October, their shocking on-court struggles deflecting attention away from that fraught dynamic.
There's been no indication of animus between Green and Poole during games, though, and the former's teammates lauded him for leading the team meeting last week following a dispiriting loss to the Phoenix Suns. Green even had a “great conversation” with the struggling Klay Thompson, who subsequently played his two best games of the season.
“Draymond definitely held the floor,” Thompson said of the meeting. “He’s such a great motivator, so we all responded really well.”
The Warriors enter Wednesday's clash with the LA Clippers—billed as a potential Western Conference Finals preview during the preseason, at least—at 8-10. They're 2-1 since the team meeting, that lone loss coming Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans as Steve Kerr sat his veteran stars on the second leg of a back-to-back.
