National Basketball Association

Warriors receive NBA championship rings amid Draymond Green drama

Updated Nov. 19, 2022 1:33 p.m. ET

The Golden State Warriors are used to ring ceremonies, but Tuesday's celebration came under very different circumstances.

The defending NBA champions have spent the past two weeks dealing with the fallout of star forward Draymond Green punching young teammate Jordan Poole, especially after a video of the incident later leaked online. Green was fined — and not suspended — for his actions.

Did the Golden State Warriors handle the Draymond Green situation well?

LeSean McCoy believes that Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr handled the Draymond Green, Jordan Poole physical altercation well.

Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob addressed the organization's handling of the incident and the decision not to suspend Green before the Warriors' ring ceremony in an interview with local media Tuesday.

"I'm just being perfectly honest, he earned this [ceremony]," Lacob said. "I wouldn't take that away from him. We take it seriously, believe me, and he was fined to the maximum, and he took some time away from the team."

Green and Poole both received their rings along with the rest of their teammates amid loud cheers at Chase Center on Tuesday before the Warriors' opening game of the 2022-23 season against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Poole addressed Green's punch and subsequent apology Sunday.

"He apologized," Poole said. "We're professional, and we plan on handling ourselves that way… We're here to win [another] championship."

Green attempted to share his side of the story through a self-produced documentary that aired before the ceremony. However, he did not speak during the actual festivities, ceding the spotlight to teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

The rest of the ceremony went on with normalcy as the Warriors raised their fourth NBA championship banner in eight years, and first at Chase Center in San Francisco after moving there in 2019. Juan Toscano-Anderson, a member of the 2021-22 title team before signing with the Lakers in the offseason, also participated in the festivities.

As for the bling itself, it's the first championship ring made primarily of yellow diamonds. The ring also has 16 carats, representing the Warriors' 16 postseason wins. Another unique feature is the hardware features 43 white diamond baguettes, representing Stephen Curry's 43-point Game 4.

The rings were made by Los Angeles-based jewelry house Jason of Beverly Hills.