As the 2022-23 NBA regular season fast approaches, the defending champion Golden State Warriors are dealing with a very dramatic story that they surely would have loved to avoid entirely.
Earlier this month, reports came out regarding a physical interaction that occurred between Warriors players Draymond Green and Jordan Poole.
The team announced that it was going to handle the issue internally, and many assumed that was the last they would hear of it. That all changed, however, when footage of the incident raged across the internet.
In the grainy video, Green can be seen getting into Poole’s face aggressively. When Poole pushes him away, Green lunges at him and punches him square in the face.
Green has since apologized, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr seemingly downplayed the incident by claiming that he’s “probably seen 20-plus fights” during his extended career in the league.
Despite all that, Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley has a very different opinion. He recently came out and said that such activity has no place in the NBA, and Green crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed.
The first episode of the @PatBevPod drops tomorrow. Within the first minute he brought up Draymond Green. By the 90th minute, I knew it was going to be a hit. Excited to start the journey. pic.twitter.com/iqNx1QKkYE
— rone’s gamblin corner (@rone) October 11, 2022
“That should never happen — at all” he said. “No, that should never happen. … We’re professionals. That’s a line you don’t cross.”
It is interesting to see Beverley take such a strong stance against fighting and getting physical on the basketball court with teammates.
After all, he has made a career out of being a pest to opposing players by getting in their faces and sometimes being physical as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUYooMED7C4&ab_channel=BuzzerBeater
For Beverley, it seems like the main issue is that Green and Poole are supposed to be on the same side. It’s a point of view that makes a lot of sense.
For the Lakers, they’re surely hoping that the locker room morale is high at the moment and remains high heading into the 2022-23 NBA season. Last season, the team failed to make the playoffs, and it was the subject of ridicule from fans and experts alike for months.
The hope is that the additions of players like Beverley, Dennis Schroder, Lonnie Walker IV and more can help strengthen the team’s backcourt and make the Lakers a legitimate playoff team once again.
Coincidentally, the Lakers will start off their regular season against none other than the Warriors. The two will face off on Oct. 18.
