Draymond Green had bizarre comment during apology press conference
May 24, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reacts after a play against the Dallas Mavericks during the first quarter in game four of the 2022 Western Conference finals at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Draymond Green definitely was not slick during his apology press conference on Saturday.
The Golden State Warriors star met with the media and issued his first public comments since viciously punching teammate Jordan Poole in the face at practice this week (see video here). Green apologized to Poole in his remarks and also made a big announcement about what he plans to do next.
Later in his press conference, Green went viral for a very bizarre comment.
“Hurt people hurt people,” said Green, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports. “I hurt someone because I was in a place of hurt.”
That feels a lot like Green trying to make excuses for himself and fishing for sympathy. To make it worse, Green’s line probably is not even original since it sounds very similar to what rapper Kendrick Lamar said in his recent hit song “The Heart Part 5.”
“In a land where hurt people hurt more people, f–k calling it culture,” Lamar raps during the song. In the music video, Lamar (with deep-fake technology) also turns into Will Smith while delivering the line, a statement on Smith’s infamous slapping incident at the Oscars earlier this year. You can see the moment in Lamar’s video here (at around the 2:40 mark).
A comparison to Smith might be apt here, especially when it comes to losing control and sullying your reputation with an inappropriate outburst. But for Green to be playing the victim, especially when he sucker-punched a much smaller, younger teammate with little to no provocation, rings quite hollow.
Many on the Warriors have already come out and strongly hinted that Poole did not do anything wrong. Thus, Green will have to do a lot better in order to win back the trust of his team and of the public.