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The NBA suspended Draymond Green indefinitely on Wednesday after the Golden State Warriors star delivered a flagrant blow to the head of Jusuf Nurkic during a 119-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
The suspension, which represents an unusual disciplinary result for a flagrant foul, “takes into account Green's repeated history of unsportsmanlike conduct,” said Joe Dumars, the NBA's vice president of basketball operations said in a brief statement.
The suspension follows his third exclusion of the season and begins with immediate effect. Green “must meet certain league and team conditions before he can return to play,” the league said.
Less than a month ago, Green was ejected and subsequently suspended five games for putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock less than two minutes into a 104-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 14.
Green's blow to Nurkic's head came with Golden State leading 65-60 with 8:23 left in the third quarter of a nationally televised game at Phoenix's Footprint Center. As the two players battled for position on an inbounds play, Nurkic held the right side of Green's body to prevent him from opening up to receive a pass, and Green responded by moving in counterclockwise Turned towards Nurkic and swung wildly with his right arm. Video footage showed Green made direct contact with the left side of Nurkic's face, causing the Bosnian big man to fall to the ground.
Green, who didn't protest the ejection and jogged straight to the locker room, left with two points, two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. During a postgame press conference, the four-time All-Star apologized to Nurkic, saying the hit was unintentional and acknowledging his ejection was “justified.”
“[Nurkic] “I pulled myself at the waist and I turned away to sell the call and made contact with him,” Green said. “As you know, I don't apologize for things I wanted to do, but I apologize to Yusuf because I didn't mean to hit him. …A repeat will never look good. I know my intentions. My intention was to sell the call. I don't think I'm precise enough to do a full 360 and connect with someone. It's unfortunate.”
Nurkic was able to continue playing after the incident and had 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Suns coach Frank Vogel said Green was guilty of a “reckless, dangerous” play, and All-Star guard Devin Booker added that Green's emotions were “out of control.”
“What’s wrong with him? I don’t know,” Nurkic said of Green. “I personally feel like this brother needs help. I'm glad he didn't try to choke me. At the same time, it has nothing to do with basketball. I'm just out there trying to play basketball. He's out there swinging. I think we've seen that a lot. I hope whatever he has [going on] Things are getting better in his life.”
With Green back in the locker room, Golden State fell behind by double digits early in the fourth quarter before mounting a fierce comeback in the closing minutes that fell short. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he had “no comment” on Green's blatant hit because he hadn't seen a replay.
“[Losing Green was a] big momentum,” Kerr said. “It was kind of a good feeling for us to have him in the Five and spread the word. … I felt good about having him out there and he lost his composure. …We need Draymond. He knows it. We spoke with him. He has to find a way to keep his poise and be there for his teammates.”
When Green was suspended five games for putting Gobert in a headlock, the longest of his 12-year career at the time, the league said the Warriors forward was guilty of an “unsportsmanlike and dangerous” action against Gobert so on His “history of unsportsmanlike conduct” contributed to the length of the suspension. That suspension cost Green more than $769,000 of his $22.3 million salary.
Green, who was also ejected in the Warriors' 118-110 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 11 for shoving Donovan Mitchell from behind during a transition play, is no stranger to league discipline. He was ejected from Game 2 and suspended for Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against the Sacramento Kings in April for kicking center Domantas Sabonis in the chest. As in its statement following the Gobert suspension, the NBA noted at the time that the suspension was based “in part on Green's history of unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Perhaps most famously, Green hit LeBron James below the belt during the 2016 NBA Finals, resulting in a one-game suspension that helped tip the series in the Cavaliers' favor. In October 2022, Green hit his then teammate Jordan Poole during training. Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards in June, a week before the Warriors signed Green to a four-year, $100 million contract extension.
The Warriors, who fell to 10-13 with the loss to the Suns, are in 11th place in the Western Conference standings. Golden State's next five games are at the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, at home against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, at the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, at home against the Boston Celtics on December 19th and at home on December 22nd against the Wizards.