Grizzlies’ Brooks suspended for Game 3 vs. Warriors; Draymond fined for gesture in Memphis
Dillon Brooks’ Flagrant 2 foul on Warriors’ Gary Payton II sidelined the Golden State guard for multiple weeks.
And while it won’t seem like enough to some Warriors brass, the Grizzlies wing will be suspended for at least one game.
The NBA suspended Brooks without pay for Saturday’s Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday morning.
In the league’s press release, president of operations Byron Spruell said Brooks made “unnecessary and excessive contact” in his foul of Payton, “resulting in substantial injury to Payton.”
The Warriors announced earlier on Thursday morning that Payton had sustained ligament and muscle damage in additional to the fracture in his left elbow and would be out for at least two weeks.
The play had the Warriors fuming both when it occurred and after the game, with Steve Kerr saying Brooks “broke the code” and Steph Curry saying it was “out of line.”
Kerr told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami that he believed Brooks should be suspended for as long as Payton is out with his injury, though Kerr acknowledged to Kawakami that “it’s not going to work that way.”
But with a one-game suspension, Brooks will be able to return to the court for Game 4 — even though Payton will have to watch from the sidelines.
Green fined for gesture at Memphis fans
The NBA also announced that Draymond Green was fined $25,000 for “directing an obscene gesture toward the spectator stands.”
Green held both of his middle fingers in the air at the Grizzlies fans when he went back to the Warriors locker room in the first quarter on Tuesday, giving the crowd a double-bird salute.
After the game, Green was not at all remorseful about what he did and was prepared to be fined.
“You want to boo somebody who got elbowed in the face, blood running down their face, you should be flipped off,” Green said. “I’ll take the fine, I’ll do an appearance and make up the money. But it felt really good to flip them off. You want to boo someone that got elbowed in the eye and blood running down my face? I could have had a concussion.
“If they’re going to be nasty,
I’m going to be nasty too. I’m assuming the cheers was because they knew I’d be fined. Great. I make $25 million a year. I should be just fine.”