Draymond Green will soon be back in uniform and back on the court, a Warrior in good standing, albeit with glaring caveats: his reputation tarnished, his bond with teammates fractured. But none of it, it seems, irrevocably. And so the NBA’s defending champions will bring their star forward back into the fold and begin some sort of healing process while simultaneously chasing another title.
Green will be fined, but not suspended, for punching teammate Jordan Poole last week—an incident that rocked the franchise and shocked the public when video of the punch leaked, a moment Steve Kerr called “the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had” in his eight-plus years as coach. He invoked that description Tuesday night, even as he explained that the franchise would not suspend Green for creating the crisis in question.
“We feel like we have a great feel for our team,” Kerr said in a press conference following a preseason victory over the Trail Blazers. “We’ve got a lot of continuity on this team. Bob [Myers] and I know our players extremely well. And we feel like this is the best way, after assessing everything, for us to move forward. It’s never easy. No matter what decision you make in a situation like this, it’s not going to be perfect.”
