Jordan Poole Says Draymond Green Apologized; Wants to Have Professional Relationship

Jordan Poole plans on having a "professional" relationship with Draymond Green after the latter apologized to the Golden State Warriors guard for punching him during a practice altercation.

Poole told reporters Green apologized and said he went about it in a very "professional" way.

"We plan on handling ourselves that way," he said. "... That's all I have to say regarding the matter. We're here to win a championship and keep hanging banners."

Green also publicly apologized, telling reporters: "I was wrong for my actions that took place on Wednesday, and for that, I have apologized to my team. I have apologized to Jordan."

He was fined for his actions but ultimately avoided a suspension. He also took the court for Friday's preseason game against the Denver Nuggets and finished with six points, four rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.

Poole played 23 minutes off the bench.

Green is also expected to play in Tuesday's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers and take part in the championship ceremony honoring last season's team. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported "the Warriors put a significant amount of weight on the fact that opening night was ring night" in deciding not to suspend the Michigan State product.

Since the altercation, Poole and the Warriors agreed to a four-year, $140 million contract extension. The team also agreed to a four-year, $109 million contract extension with Andrew Wiggins.

"There's another level you can take it, knowing that your family is taken care of, friends taken care of, anything that you needed to do is essentially done other than play basketball," Poole told reporters of the extension.

Those deals are notable for more than their roles in keeping the reigning champions together for the foreseeable future.

After all, Green has a player option for the 2023-24 campaign and could become a free agent after this season. Whether the Poole and Wiggins contracts will have any bearing on a potential deal with the four-time All-Star remains to be seen, but the practice incident and entire situation hovers as something of a backdrop.

It sounds as if Poole and Green are going to do what they can to make sure it doesn't linger into the season, which is surely welcome news for the rest of the Warriors.