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Warriors GM Myers calls fight between Green and Poole 'unfortunate'
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Liam Phillips
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Jordan Poole and Draymond Green were involved in a fight during Wednesday's practice
Jordan Poole and Draymond Green were involved in a fight during Wednesday's practice

Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers called Wednesday's practice fight between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole "unfortunate".

Initially reported by The Athletic, Wednesday's session turned heated and led to the two players becoming involved in an altercation.

Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes later claimed "league sources" said "there was a build-up stemming from team-mates noticing a change in Poole’s behaviour throughout camp with the guard on the verge of securing a lucrative extension".

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Myers said fights in practice will always be a part of highly competitive team sports.

"Everybody's fine," he said. "Look, it's the NBA, professional sports, these things happen. Nobody likes it. We don't condone it, but it happened.

"Draymond apologised to the team this morning, Jordan was there in the room, I was there in the room with the team, the coaches, the players and we heard that.

"It's unfortunate, I'm not going to deny it. It'll take some time to move through, but we'll move through it and move forward, and I'm confident that we will. 

"We've got a good team, we've got good leadership, we've got some guys that have been here a long time.

"This isn't our first thing that's happened, first sense of adversity; we've been through some of this before. Don't like going through it, but it's part of the NBA and it's part of sports."

But Myers suggested reports of conflict relating to player contracts were wide of the mark, saying "[it's not about] who's getting paid and who isn't; I don't sense that".

Green was not at practice on Thursday, with Myers adding "space is good" and that time is needed to cool things down. 

Myers finished by saying any potential suspension for Green will be handled internally.

Poole, 23, is coming off a career-best season in which he became a major asset for the championship-winning Warriors, averaging 17 points per game in the playoffs at over 50 per cent shooting while leading the NBA in free throw percentage (92.5 per cent).

This upcoming season will be the last of his rookie contract, and he will be expecting an extension similar to that recently awarded to the Miami Heat's Tyler Herro, in the region of four years and $130million.

Meanwhile, Green is also in a crucial contract year, as after the season he will have the ability to opt out of the final campaign of his four-year, $99m deal to seek what will likely be the last big extension of his career.

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