In the final minute of Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, as the Warriors were digging themselves out of an early hole, Jordan Poole dribbled the ball on the left wing. Draymond Green cut to the bucket from the top of the key but Poole didn’t pass it to him and Draymond got heated, turning his back to the play.
Poole kicked it out to Klay Thompson and tried to pass it to Draymond but he was completely disengaged from the play. The Thunder went down the court and played an entire possession 5-on-4, getting up three shot attempts while Green didn’t even try to get back on defense.
During his weekly appearance on 95.7 The Game on Wednesday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr discussed the ugly-looking sequence with hosts Whitey Gleason and Allen Stiles.
“There’s no question that it can’t happen,” Kerr said. “You have to stay connected throughout every game. There’s always gonna be frustration. There were a lot of moments of frustration last night and Draymond knows he was wrong. We talked about it at half time. He knew he was wrong. He let his frustration get the best of him. He competed and played well and played hard in the second half.”
Draymond finished with a double-double (11 points, 11 assists) but the Warriors dropped their seventh straight road game with the 137-128 loss to OKC. This is nothing compared to Draymond punching Poole in the preseason, but it’s certainly a notable outburst from the veteran, who is usually hyper-competitive.
“These things happen in the course of an 82-game season,” Kerr said. “As long as they don’t linger, you just keep pushing forward.”
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