Green gets suspended indefinitely after punch
Warriors star Draymond Green struck Suns center Jusuf Nurkic with a spinning backfist Tuesday night, and the NBA struck back Wednesday.
The league handed an indefinite suspension to Green for his latest incident. He will be required to “meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.”
Tuesday’s incident marked his third ejection of the season and second time he’s been suspended over a physical altercation with an opposing player during the 2023-24 campaign. The hefty punishment took into account “Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the league said in a statement announcing the suspension.
The Warriors forward will meet with general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and his agent, Rich Paul, in order to discuss counseling so Green can move forward, according to ESPN. The NBA avoided putting a set number of games on the ban in order to allow Green the necessary time needed to deal with whatever issues he may be facing, the outlet reported.
Green swung around and struck Nurkic as he was trying to get open during an inbound play with 8:23 left in the third quarter. The Suns player immediately went down holding his face after taking the backhand. Green was given a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game.
The Warriors star said he apologized to Nurkic for striking him since it was something he didn’t intend to do.
“He was pulling my hip and I was swinging away to sell the call. Made contact with him. As you know, I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” Green told reporters after the game.
“So I was just selling the call because he was grabbing me and pulling my hip back. So I spun away. And unfortunately, I hit him. And so like I said, I apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him.”
It clearly wasn’t enough for the NBA, which came down harshly on Green after repeated similar instances.
Green’s first ejection of the season occurred Nov. 12 after he received two technical fouls, and his second came after he put Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert in a headlock during a hockey-style brawl that occurred Nov. 14. He was suspended for five games for that incident and expressed little remorse over it, later telling reporters he doesn’t “live my life with regrets” and was defending a teammate.
Tuesday’s ejection matched a career-high for Green and became his 19th over his 11year career. And the behavior extends beyond the two recent occurrences, with Green stepping on the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis during the first round of the playoffs last season.
The Warriors’ season has already started to veer off course, the team 11th in the Western Conference after losing 11 of their past 15 games. Having to play without Green will only add to the issues.