Both Steve Kerry and Draymond Green admitted that the punch that Green fired off on Jordan Poole’s face during the preseason significantly diminished their championship aspirations before the season even started.
Kerr, who said “trust was lost,” delivered his remarks on the violent episode during his exit interviews at the team facility in San Francisco, hours before Green copped to his own mental meltdown during his interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN.
“There’s no hiding from it — the incident with Draymond and Jordan at the beginning of the year played a role in that. It’s hard for that not to impact a team,” Kerr said Tuesday, according to ESPN.
“Anytime some trust was lost, then it makes the process much more difficult, and there was some trust lost,” Kerr continued. “That’s as blunt as I can be. We have to get back to what has made us really successful, which is a really trusting environment and a group that relies on one another and makes each other better.”
Green’s mistake notwithstanding, Kerr publicly and emphatically lobbied for Green to return to the team next season. Green will soon be a free agent and can sign with another team if he chooses.
“Look, if Draymond is not back, we’re not a championship contender,” Kerr said resolutely. “We know that. He’s that important to winning and to who we are. I absolutely want him back.”
A few hours later, Green went on the “Stephen A.’s World” to admit that his punch of teammate Poole greatly compromised his ability to be a moral and vocal leader of the team. The team, subsequently, suffered the entire year, particularly away from home as they posted the worst road record in NBA history for a defending champion. They eventually lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs, 4-2.
“We’re not playing right now because when you speak about the fouling, when you think 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 [his punch on Poole] doesn’t happen,” Green explained to Smith.
