"I f**ked it all off" - Draymond Green reflects on altercation with Jordan Poole to reassess his role as Warriors' veteran

The infamous training camp scuffle between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole altered the chemistry of the team in a major way. The franchise was fresh off a championship. All indications were that the front office was likely going to lock Poole down with a long-term deal after a strong postseason showing.

As the team prepared for the 2022-23 season, however, Green and Poole were involved in an altercation that saw the four-time NBA champ drop his teammate with a right hand.

While speaking about the situation on "The Two Cents Podcast" hosted by Penny Hardaway, Green dubbed the situation the biggest failure of his career. At the same time, Green also said that the whole ordeal taught him quite a bit about how to be a better veteran to younger teammates.

"One of my biggest failures as a vet was what happened with Jordan Poole. And it took me to go through that failure with Jordan Poole, who was someone that came in and chose his locker to be next to me because he wanted to learn from me, was someone that I would spend time with, that I would pour into and I f****d it all off.

"And I haven't felt like that miserably at anything at most things in my life. And so, that was one of my biggest failures. It taught me a ton. It showed me how to be a better vet for Jonathan Kaminga, how to be a better vet for the Moses Moodys. But I had to go through that in order to learn, and like I said, it sucked."

Although the two did work to put the situation behind them in pursuit of an NBA title, it contributed to the Warriors eventually trading Poole to the Wizards.

Draymond Green once said the way he handled the aftermath of Jordan Poole altercation could have been better

After Draymond Green and Jordan Poole were involved in their training camp altercation, Green took a leave of absence from the team. At the time, coach Steve Kerr said that the decision for the veteran to spend some time away from the team was a mutual one.

While speaking with reporters after the altercation, Draymond Green said that he was in a bad place mentally prior to the incident. He had planned to stay away from the team in order to give other players space.

In an interview with Andscape's Marc J. Spears back in October, Green looked back on how he handled the aftermath of the incident. He said that in hindsight, he could navigate the situation better.

"I’m like, ‘I really just gotta do my own thing, stay to the side, stay out the way.’ I’m not sure that was the right thing either. But when it was going on, that’s what feels right. Hindsight is 20/20. We always look at something like, ‘If I would’ve knew this then, I would’ve did X.’ So, at that time, that’s what felt right to me."

The situation as a whole has been discussed across the NBA community over the past week after Poole liked an image on Instagram poking fun at one of Green's recent stat lines.

In last Thursday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Green failed to log a single point, rebound or assist over 19 minutes of action, while going 0-4 from the floor.