Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fined but will not be suspended after punching team-mate Jordan Poole last week.
Coach Steve Kerr said on Tuesday that Green would return to practice on Thursday and will feature for the defending NBA champions against Denver on Friday night and in the season curtain-raiser next week against the LA Lakers.
The Warriors coach, general manager Bob Myers and the players met to decide how to proceed, including talks between 32-year-old Green and 23-year-old Poole.
Speaking after a pre-season win against Portland, Kerr said: “We feel like we have a great feel for our team. We’ve got a lot of continuity on this team, so Bob and I know our players extremely well.
“We feel like this is the best way after assessing everything for us to move forward. It’s never easy, no matter what decision you make in a situation like this. It’s not going to be perfect. This is the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had since I’ve been coach here. It’s really serious stuff.”
Green met with Poole after the bust up and members of the franchise have taken part in discussions since the incident last Wednesday in training, with Stephen Curry leading some of the talks, Kerr added.
“We have spent the last week in deep discussions with all of our key figures in the organisation, including Jordan and Draymond of course, Steph, all of our players, Bob, myself, and I can tell you there have been a lot of conversations, individual, one-on-one discussions, players-only discussions.”
Green has been away from the team since the altercation and has been training on his own.
Neither player was injured after the incident. The experienced Green has been a key part of the Warriors’ four championships in eight seasons.
The incident occurred on October 5, with footage emerging on Friday of Green appearing to punch Poole after the two came chest-to-chest during a heated exchange.
The pair were separated quickly, and the Warriors halted practice.
On Thursday, Golden State general manager Bob Myers told reporters Green expressed his sorrow for the incident and then departed the facility as the defending NBA champions practised without him.
“Everybody’s fine,” Myers said. “Jordan practised [on Thursday], Draymond didn’t.
“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. Jordan was there in the room, I was in the room, the team, the coaches, players – and we heard that.”