Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended five games for his involvement in Tuesday’s fight against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the league announced. Here’s what you need to know:
- The four-time NBA champion will miss the following games during the suspension: two-time Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.
- Just 1:43 into the match, Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels got into a scuffle at midfield, with both players grabbing each other’s jerseys. Moments later, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert – who appeared to be trying to break up the altercation – was grabbed by the neck by Green before players and coaches stepped in to break up the altercation.
- Thompson, McDaniels and Gobert were each fined $25,000 for their involvement in the incident.
- Green, Thompson and McDaniels were ejected from the game, a 104-101 Timberwolves win.
What does the next phase of the game look like without Draymond?
More challenging. They will face the Thunder twice this week and then play six home games with the surging Rockets. Then it’s an away game in Phoenix before an in-season tournament game against the Spurs the day after Thanksgiving. These are the five. The first of those – against the Thunder on Thursday night – will also be played without Steph Curry, who is suffering from a knee injury and will miss at least one more game. – Anthony Slater, Warriors beat writer
Who needs to step in in Draymond’s absence?
This seems like the ideal time for the Warriors to try and unlock Jonathan Kuminga. Without Green in the preseason (ankle sprain), Kuminga led the NBA in scoring. Some of it was an untenable chance, but there was a power and confidence to his game that he’s lost in the last few weeks as his minutes have shrunk back into the teens.
Steve Kerr will probably start Dario Šarić. That was the trend. But a whole bunch of Kuminga with some breathing room could add some momentum to his season. Maybe use him alongside Sarić and keep Kevon Looney off the bench or replace Kuminga’s deployment off the bench. In any case, they need more from him.
They could also use Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins and Thompson finding their jumpers, Curry returning quickly from a minor knee injury and Brandin Podziemski continuing to play like he did Tuesday night. Kerr guaranteed the rookie a rotation role after the game. – Slater
This is the longest suspension of Green’s career and is the first time he has been penalized for multiple games. That makes it by far his most expensive penalty.
Green will lose $769,704 during this suspension. Before Wednesday’s decision, he had never lost more than $177,976 in one fell swoop. According to Spotrac, Green has been suspended from 19 games and will be suspended for nine games at the end of this five-game suspension. His career fines total is now $2,231,780, including this most recent suspension.
While that may have been his biggest suspension, Green’s costliest was still Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which he said and many believe was the difference between a second straight championship and the infamous 3-1 loss. lead in the final. This suspension was based on the accumulation of obvious foul points in the postseason. Green was also ejected from a playoff game in April after stomping on Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis’ chest, a suspension that ultimately cost the Warriors the series. — Marcus Thompson II, senior columnist
Green has a history of suspensions
Only one of his suspensions came at the hands of Golden State, a one-game penalty following his verbal altercation with Kevin Durant on the court in November 2018.
Sabonis’ suspension during the playoffs and now this five-game suspension – harsh by NBA precedent – suggest a growing intolerance and perhaps a particular disdain for Green. Considering that these incidents have yet to end his career, one has to wonder how the NBA will handle the next situation.
The NBA acknowledged in its statement, as it did with the postseason suspension, that it was taking Green’s reputation into account. The league is clearly trying to curb his behavior through punishment. But Green doesn’t seem interested in making a change. So will the league further increase its penalties? Will the NBPA fight back considering these penalties essentially set new precedents to send a strong message to a player? – Thompson
Required reading
(Photo: Kelley L Cox / USA Today)