The Golden State Warriors are interested in Dwight Howard. This information is public because of good reporting from KRON4’s Jason Dumas, which Draymond Green confirmed on social media. Green gave kudos to Dumas for doing good work, but couldn’t resist taking a shot at him getting that scoop.The Warriors defensive standout bemoaned the fact that information about a potential transaction was made public.
“One day, one day, everything won’t leak,” Green posted on Xwitter.
Green, of course, was involved in an infamous leak just prior to the start of the 2022-23 NBA season. News broke about an altercation between him and former teammate Jordan Poole last October. Then TMZ received security cam footage from the private practice session that showed Green landing a clean right cross to the side of Poole’s face.
The fallout from that footage going public lingered on the team like skunk-musk — Steve Kerr cited the incident as a problem for the Warriors during his end-of-season press conference. In the long haul, Green actually won that situation. Yes, the Warriors lost in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Green had one of the worst offensive postseasons of his career. But, at 33, he got to stay in the Bay Area on a 4-year, $100 million deal. when there were questions all year about his future with the Warriors. Poole is now a member of the Washington Wizards.
It appears that management took an evaluation of the entire season and determined that, while Green was wrong for throwing the punch, he is crucial to any success they will have in the near future.
Also, that video is an extreme example of a leak in sports. Most of the time organizations and player agents leak information to get the upper hand in negotiations. Howard and his agent have to do whatever it takes to get him back in the NBA.
Howard posted career lows in points and rebounds during his last stint with the Lakers during the 2021-22 season. He has also been hit with the “unlikeable” tag throughout his career. There have been reports for many years that he has not gotten along with teammates, and sometimes coaches.
Information going public that the Warriors are interested in Howard helps him. A championship contender is looking to bring him back across the Pacific Ocean to the NBA. That might make a few other teams in need of an extra big body make some calls to Howard’s representation. And the second half of that report, the part about him going to work out with Chris Paul and Green, is showing that he can get along with others. Howard is spending time with two other players who also have a reputation of getting on their coworkers’ nerves.
Leaks are an essential part of media. Most importantly, that is how reporters are tipped about wrongdoing. Without tips, it would be almost impossible to expose people accused of sexual misconduct, financial impropriety and more. People in power don’t volunteer when they act unscrupulously. To that point, this is why whistleblowers and sources are protected by our legal system.
A much lesser need for leaks is to get business done in sports. When information gets out, it can apply pressure to act. Not everyone is going to be like James Harden and openly trash their general manager .
Getting the information into the hands of the insiders is the best way to do business in professional sports. Green may refer to himself as a member of the “new media,” but this is one “old media” practice that he will never be able to change. Nor should he or anyone else.
Instead, Green should use his hopes on more realistic goals. Like winning another NBA Championship.
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