Warriors fine — will not suspend — Draymond Green for punching Poole

Ultimately, the call belonged to Jordan Poole and the Warriors’ locker room — not Adam Silver and the league office, not NBA pundits, not anyone else on the outside.

The Golden State Warriors will fine — but not suspend — Draymond Green for his vicious punch of teammate Jordan Poole during a practice last week, coach Steve Kerr announced after Tuesday’s Warriors preseason game. Green will rejoin the team on Thursday and is expected to play in the team’s preseason game Friday. He will be in uniform for the season opener — and Warriors’ ring night — next Tuesday against the Lakers.

Here is Steve Kerr’s opening remarks on the Warriors fining, not suspending, Draymond Green

Kerr calls this the “biggest crisis” since he has been the Warriors’ head coach pic.twitter.com/PGjXhWnJD3

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 12, 2022

“We’ve spent the last week in deep discussions with all of our key figures in the organization, including Jordan [Poole] and Draymond, of course, Steph [Curry], all of our players, Bob [Myers, general manager], myself,” Kerr said. “And I can tell you there have been a lot of conversations, individual one-on-one discussions, players-only discussions…

“We feel like this is the best way, after assessing everything, for us to move forward. Never easy, no matter what decision you make in a situation like this. It’s not going to be perfect. This is the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had since I’ve been coaching. It’s really serious stuff.”

The most important of those conversations was a long one between Poole and Green, Kerr added.

Draymond and Jordan Poole had a long conversation before the Warriors' decision was made. That was the biggest factor and what matters most

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson)