AP SAN FRANCISCO — Less than twenty-four hours after he struck Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face and was given a Flagrant 2 foul and sent out, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was handed an NBA indefinite suspension on Wednesday.
According to the league, operations chief Joe Dumars’ suspension takes effect right now. Green has already served two suspensions this season.
Before he can play again, “he will need to meet certain league and team conditions,” the league stated.
“This outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said.
The Warriors announced that Green’s punishment will be discussed during shootaround on Thursday in Los Angeles before a game against the Clippers, but they did not have a statement on hand on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Green, who has played in four Warriors titles, was dismissed for the 18th time in his NBA career, which is the most of any active player.
Early in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 119-116 loss to Phoenix, Green and Nurkic got into a tangle while battling for position close to the baseline corner as the team was inbounding the ball near their own bench. Green seemed to sway a little before turning and facing Nurkic, his right arm making contact with the large man’s face.
Nurkic went down hard right away and remained down for a short while before getting back up to continue playing.
Nurkic stated, “That had nothing to do with basketball.” “I’m just attempting to play basketball outside.”
The NBA punished Green for five games after he put Rudy Gobert of Minnesota in a headlock during a fight in November.
A suspension that lasts indefinitely has not been done much before. Gilbert Arenas, a guard for Washington, was placed on indefinite leave in 2010 by then-Commissioner David Stern for carrying weapons into the team locker room. The statement “his ongoing conduct… led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game” by Stern preceded Arenas’ eventual 50-game suspension.
Coach Steve Kerr described Green’s leave of absence from the 2022 NBA champions as a “mutual decision” following the star forward’s vicious punch to former teammate Jordan Poole in the face during training camp last season. There were no injuries to either player.
After the previous season concluded, Green’s new general manager for the Warriors, Mike Dunleavy, stated that he was determined to keep him. Shortly after, in late June, Green was offered a new contract worth $100 million for four years. Although Kerr has consistently stated that he admires Green’s intense, boundary-pushing style of play, it will be intriguing to watch how both teams handle this most recent discipline.
After standing on Domantas Sabonis’ chest in a Game 2 loss against the Sacramento Kings in the previous spring, Green received a suspension for the Game 3 playoff victory. The Warriors achieved a historic feat by winning a playoff series despite falling behind 0-2 in the first place.
In November 2018, Golden State punished Green for one game due to his actions that were damaging to the club. When Kevin Durant called for the ball in the final seconds of regulation during the Warriors’ 121-116 overtime loss to the Clippers, Green grabbed a rebound and lost control as he dribbled the length of the court into traffic, preventing the Warriors from making a shot. Durant became extremely unhappy on video, and the two argued.
Green’s suspension for the pivotal Game 5 NBA Finals matchup against LeBron James and the Cavaliers in 2016 occurred because he had too many flagrant fouls during that season’s playoffs. In the end, the Warriors dropped all seven games. Green missed that game, so GM Bob Myers sat with him next to Oracle Arena at the Oakland Coliseum.
In 15 games this season, Green, a second-round draft choice out of Michigan State in 2012, is averaging 9.7 points, 5.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds. He has recently stated on numerous occasions how much better the chemistry is this season. On draft day, Poole was sent to Washington in exchange for Chris Paul.
According to Green, “it was not fun” and “hard to come to work.”
He remarked, “As far as chemistry goes, we had a terrible team last year—pathetic.” You think, “Ah man, this team hasn’t lost a Western Conference series under Steve Kerr,” as you reflect on the previous campaign. Then it takes place. Our bad chemistry is the main cause.
