The Golden State Warriors were in very high spirits leading into the 2022-23 NBA season. The defending champions had brought back most of the key pieces from their title run and looked to dominate the league once again when disaster seemingly struck.
Just a couple of weeks before the start of the season, Jordan Poole and Draymond Green got into an altercation during practice that ended with Green punching Poole in the face. While the general public, at first, had no idea how severe it was, a video was eventually leaked to TMZ and the situation got a whole lot worse. Many wondered if the two would be able to work it out, but they have so far. Warriors owner Joe Lacob recently sat down with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic for an interview where he was asked if he was worried about the punch heard around the NBA world.
via The Athletic:
Joe, when you heard about it and then saw the video that got out, did you think it might screw up the season?“I’ll be honest, I didn’t worry about it as much as everyone else did,” Lacob said. “But now, when you see it, it’s visceral, it’s like anything else, when there’s a video, it all gets enhanced. … We’re the Golden State Warriors. It got amplified. You see it and you got concerned, and it certainly did affect us, I think there’s no question. Was I worried? Honestly, kinda, a little bit, but I felt we would get through it, and I think we are through it.”
Lacob was worried after seeing the clip and you can’t blame him. It looked nasty and Poole was fortunate to avoid serious harm. The Warriors as a group do seem to have managed to put it behind them but it is safe to say this team hasn’t looked like its usual self so far.
Joe Lacob Refused To Guarantee That Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, And Draymond Green Would Retire With The Team
During this interview, Lacob also spoke on their Big 3 of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Green. The trio have been the pillars of this dynastic run and are Warriors legends but their future isn’t certain, with the exception of Curry.
Thompson’s contract expires after next season while Green has a player option for 2023-24. With the Warriors’ payroll already at an all-time high, they cannot afford to give big extensions to both of them and Lacob refused to guarantee that their Big 3 would retire with the franchise. Unless they are willing to take huge pay cuts, it is hard to see a scenario where they retain both of them and we will probably see this iconic trio split up at some point in the next two years.
Source: fadeawayworld
