Warriors’ Draymond Green says NBA commissioner talked him out of retiring
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green recently considered retirement before NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked him out of it, Green said Monday on his latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show.”
Green said he had an emotional conversation with Silver after hitting the Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic in the face in a Dec. 12 game. During that exchange with Silver, Geen told Silver that he wanted to leave the NBA.
“I told him, ‘Adam, this is too much for me,’” Green recalled.
“’This is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire.’ And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision, and I won’t let you do that.’
“We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
After the NBA lifted his suspension for the Nurkic incident Saturday, Green was on the Warriors’ bench for Sunday’s loss to the Raptors. He still needs to practice with the team and return to game shape before Golden State will clear him to play.
A league source confirmed with the Chronicle that Green likely will need another “week or so” until he appears in a game. Whenever he does suit up for the Warriors, he has said he hopes to be a changed man.
During the podcast episode, Green claimed, “The antics, I can leave behind.” This was a reference to the four violent acts he has committed in little more than a year: punching thenteammate Jordan Poole during a preseason practice in October 2022, stomping on Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis’ chest during a first-round playoff series, putting Minnesota center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold in November, and hitting Nurkic last month.
After serving a five-game suspension for the Gobert incident, Green was suspended indefinitely for the Nurkic incident. As part of the terms of his latest suspension, he participated in virtual meetings with the league, the Warriors and players’ union officials. Green also entered and apparently has completed counseling mandated as part of his working toward his eventual return from suspension.
On the podcast, he credited former Warriors general manager Bob Myers for helping him through the suspension, adding that the two talked “two times a day” while Green was away from the team.
“Our relationship goes far beyond him being my general manager,” Green said. “Going through things like this shows what it means to be a true friend.”
Green voiced remorse for letting down the Warriors and the NBA. He said he learned during his suspension to accept that there is “a place for growth,” and he has made a “commitment to be a champion of change.”
The Warriors are 7-6 since Green’s Dec. 13 suspension. After Golden State endured its fifth loss in seven games Sunday, head coach Steve Kerr and several players discussed how much the team needs Green back in the rotation.
“We missed him dearly, and we’ll never be the same until he’s in the lineup,” guard Klay Thompson said. “He is obviously the backbone of this team, the heart and soul . ... He’ll be a difference-maker.”