Austin Rivers points to the Draymond Green moment that led to the downfall of the Warriors

One the battle between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole is all that is needed for Golden State Warriors to witness the beginning of the end. Austin Rivers he feels, as most people do for that matter, that it was the beginning of the end. That hit caused a hiatus in the Warriors’ 2022-23 season. After that year, Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards.

Still, Rivers feels the team could have had something special. In his podcast, Off Guard, he explained Fr as the video appears when Golden State was in trouble.

“Whoever found that out, they ruined the whole organization,” Rivers said. “I mean, that video was the beginning, I would say, of the downfall of that organization.” That ended their streak because you look at the last championship they won. They received a huge contribution from the youth.

“This made people be like, ‘Oh man, maybe Steph can age and Klay can age gracefully because they got this new talent. They can have this thing that they’re doing now, and it just didn’t work out that way because the main piece at the time was JP.”

Poole was a key part of the Warriors’ NBA Finals victory in 2022. As Rivers said, his youth lifted everyone around him. Plus, his endless confidence was a key element in Game 2. His 17 points and five triples helped Golden State secure that win.

Jordan Poole fans clowned Warriors’ Draymond Green

While the move was unjustified to say the least, the Golden State forward did his best to make things right. However, as Green apologized to PooleWizards fans roasted him mercilessly. Funny enough, Rivers understands what Washington fans are saying. He has a simple message for Green.

“Draymond’s just not responding, man, and here’s why you’re not responding, because you messed up,” Rivers said. “I don’t care what Jordan said, you’re twice his size, you’re way older than him, and you fool hit him.”

“Again, he didn’t know the whole world was going to see it.” So, in hindsight, this should have been just an internal issue. If that video doesn’t come out, Jordan Poole is probably still with the Warriors.

After all, there is a world of hypotheticals where this situation does not occur. If that’s the case, the NBA could look a lot different. As Austin Rivers mentioned, the Warriors would let their stars age gracefully if Poole were still around. However, he is raising his game in the nation’s capital.

He is averaging a career-high 21.4 points, 40.2% from 3-point range4.7 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game. Golden State could use its new game right now.