Getty Image / Ezra Shaw
At this time last year, the Golden State Warriors were riding high.
They had just claimed their 4th NBA title in 8 years and the performances of Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole along the way made it clear they wouldn’t have to just rely on an aging core to remain a contender in the Western Conference.
Things took an unfortunate turn for the Warriors before the start of the 2022-23 season.
During a pre-season practice, Draymond Green dropped Poole with a sucker punch.
The team never recovered from that punch. They were abysmal on the road all season and ended up as the 6-seed in the Western Conference. They ended being eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs after struggling to get production out of anybody other than Steph Curry and Wiggins,
The Warriors ended up taking sides in the issue between Draymond and Poole this offseason. They traded Poole to the Wizards and then signed Draymond to a contract extension.
It turns out that may not have solved all of the team’s issues involving Draymond.
During an appearance on 95.7 The Game, Warriors reporter Monte Poole revealed that there are still issues between Green and Jonathan Kuminga.
"It’s a problem and it can only be fixed by Draymond."@MontePooleNBCS thinks Draymond Green's lack of a relationship with Jonathan Kuminga is troublesomehttps://t.co/ptj841LtAd
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) July 20, 2023
Jonathan Kuminga should be a pretty big part of the Warriors’ future plans after being selected 7th overall 2 years ago.
He saw his role grow a bit last season and will be trying to become a key piece of the Warriors’ rotation heading into the 2023-24 season.
Unfortunately, beef with Draymond could make that difficult.
If this is true, you have to start to wonder if the Warriors picked the right side in the Draymond-Poole drama.
Beef between the team’s leader and its young talent isn’t exactly what you want as you try to stay in contention.
Maybe it’s something that can get figured out before the start of the next season, but it looks like the Golden State Warriors could have another Draymond Green issue to deal with this year.