Practice Altercation and Punch at Warriors Camp

On October 5, 2022, the Golden State Warriors were in training camp when an altercation broke out between forward Draymond Green and guard Jordan Poole at the team’s practice facility in San Francisco. According to the Associated Press account on NBA.com, The Athletic first reported that a scuffle occurred and that Green struck Poole, prompting the Warriors to begin reviewing possible discipline [6]. The confrontation reportedly began with verbal sparring before the two went chest-to-chest, and Green punched Poole, leading staff and players to intervene and halt practice [6]. The next day, discussion around motive swirled publicly. Stephen Curry addressed one popular rumor, denying suggestions that Poole’s attitude had changed amid contract talks: “There was a specific tweet... insinuating that [Poole’s] attitude or something has changed … it's absolute BS,” Curry told reporters on October 6, 2022 [5]. The team’s leadership—president Bob Myers and head coach Steve Kerr—worked internally through the aftermath while declining to immediately disclose disciplinary outcomes. While details of the exact words exchanged were not released, multiple outlets confirmed the core facts: Green struck Poole during practice, practice was disrupted, and the Warriors were evaluating discipline [6]. The incident would soon move beyond the confines of the locker room when video leaked two days later, but the October 5 event itself marked the start of the public rift between the two teammates. In the immediate short term, Poole continued with camp activities, and the club operated under heightened scrutiny as it considered how to balance accountability with preparation for the upcoming season [6].

This practice punch was the origin point of the Green–Poole conflict and set every subsequent development into motion. It forced questions about locker-room boundaries, leadership, and accountability on a championship-caliber team. Curry’s same-week rebuke of contract-motive rumors showed the organization trying to control the narrative while acknowledging the gravity of what happened on the floor [5]. Internally, the Warriors had to decide how to discipline a core veteran without derailing their title defense, a calculus that would remain controversial once a video of the incident surfaced and public pressure intensified [1,4,6].

In the days following, internal handling gave way to broader scrutiny when TMZ published the practice video on October 7, 2022, showing Green approach Poole, Poole shove Green, and Green punch Poole in the face [1]. On October 8, Green addressed media, apologized to Poole and the team, and said he would step away temporarily to give Poole and the group space, adding that contract issues “had nothing” to do with the punch [2,9]. That same day, he reflected, “Hurt people hurt people. I hurt someone because I was in a place of hurt” [3]. By October 12, head coach Steve Kerr announced the team had issued a “major fine” and no suspension, calling it “the biggest crisis” of his coaching tenure [4]. The incident remained a reference point throughout the season and beyond, including Poole’s eventual trade to Washington in July 2023 [12,13].