Former NBA player Eddie Johnson weighed in on the recent comments by Draymond Green about the Jordan Poole punching incident. The Warriors forward justified himself by saying that his former teammate was calling for it to happen with his trash talking.
Johnson thinks that Green handled the situation in the wrong way by taking it to the public. The 1989 Sixth Man of the Year recalled his own role as the leader for the young Gary Payton who turned out to be one of the best point guards ever.
“You grab young players when they get into the league and you try to harness them and you try to help them grow to adults,” Johnson said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I had one of the most combustable rookies you could ever have. That was Gary Payton. Gary has come on this show and he has said it. One of the most combustable rookies.
“I had a young Shawn Kemp. It’s a way to approach them. I would have never gotten public on Gary Payton and say he’s got to be an adult. I told him to his face in private between he and I. That’s how I handled it.”
Johnson thinks that Green should take responsibility for how Poole behaved. “So now Jordan Poole is not an adult. Well you know what? It was on your watch, Draymond, and you didn’t know about how to go about help him mature. So don’t throw him under the bus because he’s still a young player. It’s just bad leadership, man.”
