Like any other else, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams has viewed the viral clip of Draymond Green-Jordan Poole fiasco.
Williams admitted that being around the league for a long time, he hasn’t seen any other incident similar to both Green and Poole.
“I’ve been in the NBA a long time,” Williams said, per Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. If you’re in this league long enough, you’re going to see some tension, but it’s usually like two elbows up, both guys go at it. That kind of thing. When I saw it, I was like, that’s a tough situation, I’m glad we don’t have to deal with that.”
It was first revealed that both Green and Poole had an altercation during the Golden State Warriors practice. But upon the public release of the video by TMZ, it turned out that the incident was much severe than expected.
Green recently expressed his apology on Poole and his family after landing a punch and escalating the issue. He also noted that he’ll take an indefinite leave to make things be mended following the fiasco.
For Williams, what Green did was something he didn’t imagine.
“I’ve been around Draymond,” Williams said. “I know he’s passionate, he’s emotional, but he’s also a guy that cares. To see him in that light, I was like, man, that’s really not who he is. I worked with him on the (2016) Olympic team and that’s not the guy that I know.”
Though things are recovering now on the side of the Bay Area, Williams still acknowledge the hardship of the concern that happened, knowing that the regular season is few days away from now.
“I know that’s a tough thing to deal with when you have that kind of tension in your practice,” Williams said. “I felt bad for both of the guys.
“I felt bad for their team because this is the time of the year where you’re trying to focus on that (pointing to the court). The last thing you want is distractions.”
Green will be away from the franchise in an indefinite timetable, and the Dubs faithful can only hope that things will heal at the end of the day.
