TMZ publishes footage of the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole fight

A situation that started out bad has probably taken a much worse turn. TMZ got ahold of footage of the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident during Golden State Warriors training camp earlier this week.

See for yourself:

This isn’t the kind of film analysis I’m typically known for around these parts, but it doesn’t take an expert to see how this is plainly a bad look all around. At first, there seems to be no interaction at all between Green and Poole — until Green approaches Poole and confronts him, apparently over whatever what was being said between the two of them at that moment.

Green then crowds Poole’s personal space. Poole responds with a shove, which Green clearly did not appreciate, as shown by the forceful punch he threw clean at Poole’s jaw, which sent him to the floor immediately. Several staff then get in between them to try to break up the situation and get them away from each other.

This is by no means a “forceful strike,” as what was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic — that is as clear of a punch as I’ve seen, and I’ve seen many of them.

The ramifications of this leak could be tremendous: from team chemistry being affected, to contract negotiations being affected, and maybe even something as drastic as personnel changes during the preseason or midseason.

The bigger question, however, is this: Who leaked the video to TMZ? A staffer? Security personnel? A third-party bystander who wouldn’t mind burning a few bridges to leak sensitive information? It’s all speculation at this point, and we can’t say as to who would gain to benefit from this footage being put out there.

What is for sure, however, is that the ones damaged the most by this leak is the entire Warriors organization. Not the kind of baggage you’d want to carry heading into a title defense.