Knicks’ Evan Fournier predicts big change amid Draymond Green drama

It was only a few months ago when the Golden State Warriors captured their seventh championship and did New York Knicks fans a favor by knocking off the Boston Celtics. But now, with the 2022-23 regular season less than two weeks away, Golden State has been dealt a tough blow.

On Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported (subscription required) that during the Warriors’ practice that day, there was a “physical altercation” between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole and that Golden State was “seriously considering disciplinary action” toward Green.

That news threw Twitter into a frenzy. Green’s an integral part of the Warriors and has played a key role in all four of their most recent titles. What could have happened that would result in serious disciplinary action for the four-time All-Star?

Well, on Friday morning, a video of the altercation between Green and Poole was released by TMZ Sports.

Knicks’ Evan Fournier weighs in on Draymond Green-Jordan Poole altercation

The last thing that Golden State likely wanted was for that video to be released, but now that it has been, it’s clear that the altercation was even worse than what people initially expected.

Several NBA players weighed in on the video, including Knicks guard Evan Fournier.

Even for a team like the Warriors that’s offered a blueprint for success for other organizations, it’s hard to envision things going back to normal between Green and Poole. This incident is the type of thing that can derail a season before it’s set to officially begin.

On Thursday, the day before the video was released, Golden State GM Bob Myers spoke to the media. He mentioned that the Warriors’ current roster has “one of the best vibes” that the team has ever had and that he’s “confident” that Golden State will be able to move past the incident.

Of course, Myers wasn’t expecting someone to leak the video, but he was a little too optimistic. Poole’s due for a huge payday, which has been speculated as one of the underlying causes of the altercation, but Myers brushed that off when speaking to the media.

As Fournier said, though, Green and Poole aren’t going to simply be able to “move past” the situation like Myers said. With 11 days remaining until the Warriors open up the regular season against the Lakers, Golden State has a disaster on its hands. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

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