![]() Several contenders across the league will value Green as a potential free agent in the offseason. Green averaged 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 73 games this season, his highest points per game and games played marks since 2017-18. League sources say the Warriors want to retain Green. Green and the Warriors will have his future to work through in the offseason, with a $27.6 million player option providing several paths. But if it is accepted, it’s - all right, here we go, now we can start putting stuff together and we started to turn the corner. “And by the way, you may reinsert yourself right there and it’s not accepted. I feel that was the time that you try to reinsert yourself. We were on a home stand, trying to put wins together. We hadn’t put many wins together all year in a row, and so you try to feel out the right time. But I also felt it had to be at the right time. “That moment happened leading into the All-Star break … I felt like it was important to have that moment. ![]() So it was an understanding that we were putting together some wins. And everyone accepts things better after wins than after losses. But at that point in the season, it’s time to make a push. So let time heal the wounds while I’m working, putting my head down, going to work, putting my body on the line every single day, dive in and say something every now and then but don’t be too overbearing. “I took a step back … three or four steps back, and just kind of let things play out. And not just because you’re Draymond, or Dray’, you’ve done this, you’ve done that in this organization and everyone’s just supposed to listen.’ S- don’t just work like that. I needed to earn respect and I needed to earn a voice. For me, the first three, three and a half months of the season isn’t worth that. But if it doesn’t, then you lose all respect, you lose everyone’s ear. For me, I wanted to do things to earn that back, and not just say, ‘Oh, man, I’m Draymond and everybody going to listen.’ Maybe that works, maybe it doesn’t. “So number one: We all know the situation. “I do remember that moment,” Green told The Athletic. 27 locker room moment to Green recently, he smiled, shrugged his shoulders and asked, “You heard?” Green got all of his feelings out with Poole, it was well-received and it appears the parties haven’t looked back since the moment. It came in the middle of a three-game winning streak, and five of seven victories. This was a turning point for Green and for the Warriors. Poole accepted the words from Green, and sources say the Warriors’ leadership headed by Stephen Curry applauded and supported Green for speaking his mind. So on this late January night, Green verbally came at Poole hard, demanding better decision-making and less pouting, according to those sources, who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely. For a decade, Green’s value within the Warriors has been far beyond statistics, but more so judged by his presence, his genuine voice in the locker room and his intentions. 27, for the first time all season and since the training camp punch, league sources said Green verbally chewed out Poole in the postgame locker room. Two weeks later, however, the moment of truth happened.Īfter a 129-117 home win over Toronto on Jan. 15 in which the four-time champion was challenging the coaching staff’s rotations. Then the calendar flipped to 2023, and Green had an outburst on the sidelines in a loss in Chicago on Jan. Teammates sensed a more subdued Draymond, particularly in the opening couple of months of the season. After punching Poole in training camp in early October, Green understood his leadership role hung in the balance with these Warriors.
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