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 jumping on Domantas’ chest during a Game 3 playoff match against the Sacramento Kings last spring, Green received a suspension. 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. Following Durant’s apparent outburst on television, the two got into an argument.
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. GM Bob Myers then sat down with After being selected in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft out of Michigan State, Green is averaging 9.7 points, 5.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in 15 games this season. He has been vocal about how much better the team’s chemistry is this year. When asked about Poole’s trade to Washington on draft day for Chris Paul, Green said, “It was hard to come to work” and “not fun.” “Last year we had an awful team as far as chemistry goes — pathetic,” he said. “You look at last year and say, ‘Ah man, this team hasn’t lost a Western Conference series under Steve Kerr.’ And then it happens. The biggest reason why is our chemistry sucked.”
