Draymond Green is infamous for verbally expressing himself on and off the basketball court. It’s part of why those around him love him and why pretty much everyone else -- doesn’t.
In his third season with the Warriors, rising star guard Jordan Poole talked about his relationship with Draymond and how he continues to welcome the veteran’s very outspoken advice.
“What I appreciate most about it is that it’s who he is. He’s himself. And you can’t ask for anything more than that,” Poole told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Grant Liffmann on this week’s Dubs Talk. “If that’s how he expresses his feelings, you know he is our defensive anchor, Defensive Player of the Year, he’s a huge part of our team and he has so much knowledge. I mean if the only way he can get that out is by yelling and screaming, ok. It is what it is. You just take what it is, the lesson is, and you keep it pushing.”
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And JP knows just as well as anyone what yelling and screaming from Draymond looks like.
An altercation between Draymond and Poole was caught on camera and videos were shared all over social media after the two got into a heated argument in early November.
The two hashed it out, according to coach Steve Kerr, and Poole explained how he now deals with Draymond’s passionate criticism.
“[Draymond’s] obviously worked up about something, say what it is, tell me, I’ll fix it,” Poole told Liffmann. “If I don’t agree with it, I’m going to say something back, we figure it out and we keep it pushing. But you can’t dwell on it and you can’t do too much. If it’s in the game, if it’s on the sidelines, we got something else to worry about. We got another 20 minutes, we got another half, another quarter, you can’t hang your head on that. Let’s get it over with, fix it, we’re a really good team, we’re good players, let’s get it over with, learn, we’ll talk about it later and keep it pushing.
Golden State Warriors
“You don’t want to go down on the other court with a 10-pound suitcase thinking about ‘Aw Draymond yelled at me’ like no… I mean it’s Draymond. And we have a good enough relationship off the court where it’s like, 'Alright, if you’re going to say something to me, I know where it’s coming from, and if I got something to say to you, I’m going to say it.' We’re more so just holding each other accountable. And our personalities are different, but Draymond’s a unique person and that’s what makes him Draymond. So you can’t blame him or fault him for being himself.”
Kerr has praised Draymond’s energy, passion and loyalty to the team. His intense in-your-face playing style defines the 31-year-old.
And when you have players like Draymond around competitors like Poole, spats are going to occur. It’s more about how players react and what they learn from it.
Luckily for the Dubs, JP is “really coachable” and he listens, Kerr noted after the Draymond-Poole exchange.
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As Poole said, the two have a solid relationship off the court. But because Draymond is known for his hot mouth, those on the outside could mistake a normal conversation for something it’s not.
“You can’t even worry about them. They don’t know,” Poole said. “All you see is Draymond yelling and somebody snapping back. We could be excited. We could be excited talking about something we’re doing after the game. But they don’t know because it’s a different perspective.”
At the end of the day, JP is OK with letting Draymond explode when he needs to. As a top candidate for the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year, Poole said Draymond can yell all he wants.
“For Draymond, just let him get it off his chest,” Poole said. “He can do all the screaming he wants. I tell him like ‘Bro, you can do all that yelling, all the screaming and stuff, but as soon as I hear your point, keep it pushing. Let’s come run this next play, big bro.’”