Last week, after the Golden State Warriors’ win over the Washington Wizards, Draymond Green took to X (formerly Twitter) to apologize to Jordan Poole after his remarks, sparking mixed reactions online.

“I really am sorry,” Green posted in response to a statement from Poole, who had said, “I love those guys over there. I love most of those guys over there”. Recently, Green clarified the intent behind his message during an episode of his podcast, The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.

“I responded because it’s been three years; let’s move on. We’ve moved on. You’re supposed to move on. I really am sorry,” Green said. “That statement was kind of like it was looking for some sympathy. Like he wanted to make me out to be the bad guy. Like, move on, bro. It is what it is. I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have punched him, but it happened”.

Green also shared that he had apologized to Poole’s parents, despite a tense interaction with Poole’s father. “I even apologized to his parents. His dad popped off one time on the internet, and I went back at him because it was like, ‘bro, why are you popping off?’ And I actually didn’t like myself for it because I wasn’t even on that. I kind of let him get me off my square a little bit because I’ve said what I’ve said about it,” Green explained.

The infamous altercation between Green and Poole went viral after footage of the incident was leaked, casting a shadow over the Warriors’ season. Following a challenging 2022–23 NBA campaign for both Poole and the team, the young guard was traded to the Wizards in exchange for Chris Paul.

Green reflects on the incident

In addition to explaining his apology, Green revisited the incident and acknowledged how he could have handled the situation differently. “I kind of go back and forth on this. Like, some days I’m thinking, ‘Yo, I know I was wrong,’ but then there’s also, ‘You can’t call a man a b-word and push him and not get hit either,’” Green admitted.

“I sit in both of those spaces sometimes. And the answer is probably somewhere in the middle—I shouldn’t have knocked him out like that. If anything, I should have hemmed him up. It was just a natural reaction,” he added.

Green calls it his greatest leadership failure

Last month, during an interview with Penny Hardaway on Two Cents, Green called the altercation with Poole his biggest failure as a veteran leader with the Warriors. “I will say I was kind of thrust into a vet role before I was ready to handle it,” Green reflected. “Before I knew what it took to handle it, I failed miserably”.

“One of my biggest failures as a vet was what happened with Jordan Poole,” he continued. “It took me going through that failure with someone who chose to be close to me—someone who picked his locker next to mine because he wanted to learn from me”.