Will Draymond Green play with the Warriors in the season opener against the Lakers?
While four-time NBA champion Draymond Green expects to play in the season opener, the Warriors haven’t set a return date yet
Draymond Green’s return is still up in the air.
Three days after the Warriors’ veteran forward punched teammate Jordan Poole at practice, Green announced that he will take some time away from the team in an attempt to work through some things, and give Poole and his teammates the space they need.
The four-time NBA champion mentioned that he expects to play in the Warriors season opener on Oct. 18, but that he understands that that’s out of his control. Head coach Steve Kerr also mentioned that there’s ‘no set date’ on the return of the 32-year-old.
And while the Warriors haven’t announced an official punishment for Green yet, they did, however, hope to get a grip on the situation internally, before the leaked video made its way to the public on Friday morning, in which Green’s attack can be plainly seen.
Related: Why did Draymond Green punch Jordan Poole?
With that video, it seems that suspending Green for more time only makes more sense, especially after everyone across the league saw just how bad the sucker punch was. If Green ends up playing in the season opener like nothing happened, it might set a bad precedent for the whole league.
The Warriors are yet to give definite answers as they try to figure out how to navigate the situation.
Is Green staying with the Warriors?
On another note, it is unknown whether Green is working to regain the trust of his teammates at Golden State, or is preparing for his exit. According to a recent ESPN segment, Green wants to play with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I can tell you, Draymond Green is expecting this to be his last year in Golden State,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said. “Now, he wanna be a Laker. He ain’t gonna tell anybody that, but don’t think I don’t know. He’d prefer to be a Laker if he gotta leave Golden State.”