Warriors forward Draymond Green's two NBA suspensions this season cost him a spot in Team USA's 41-player pool for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
USA Basketball men's national team general manager Grant Hill made this clear during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday (h/t ESPN's Brian Windhorst).
“[Green’s] “The contributions have been significant and he is a true part of the legacy of this organization because of his excellence,” Hill said. “But I think in lieu of what happened this year, we decided not to do that.” [Green] on this list with this particular point in the process.
Green, who helped Team USA bring home gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Tokyo, has served two suspensions this season for on-court incidents.
The four-time NBA champion was suspended five games in November for putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during a scuffle early in the Warriors' loss on Nov. 14 at Chase Center.
A month later, Green was suspended indefinitely after hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic during the Warriors' Dec. 12 loss at Footprint Center. That punishment ended up lasting 12 games, with the four-time NBA All-Star missing an additional four games while he improved in basketball shape.
Green began counseling during his indefinite suspension and was only reinstated when the NBA, the Warriors and commissioner Adam Silver were confident he had learned and grown from the sessions and his time away from the team.
The therapy sessions were welcomed by Green, who spoke to reporters for the first time on Jan. 9, breaking his silence about his suspension and what he was working on to improve his temperament.
“One of the best things that happened to me during the process as soon as I called [with the therapist]He was like, “So what's this about?” “I see everything on the news,” Green said on Jan. 9. “I see everything everyone says.” How do you feel and what do you think? Because if you are here just to fulfill some obligation or satisfy public opinion, you are wasting my time and yours.”
“That was the most important thing for me to hear because that wasn’t the reason I was there. That was a very important part of my start for the last four weeks or so.”
Hill cited in his comments that it was in the player's best interest to allow Green to focus on himself over the summer rather than playing for Team USA.
“We all understand and certainly have a lot of respect and sensitivity for this particular phase of his career, and he is working on some things both on and off the field,” Hill said. “So we at USA Basketball wanted to support him on his journey and we just didn’t feel like playing over the summer would give him the best opportunity to do what he needed to do.”
Green has played in one game since returning from his suspension – the Warriors' impressive 116-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 15. Golden State hasn't played since that night after assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died last Wednesday of a serious heart attack at a team dinner in Salt Lake City, Utah, the night before.
Green and the Warriors return to action against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at Chase Center.
Although Green is not part of the 41-man Team USA pool, his teammate Steph Curry is. And coach Steve Kerr will lead the final 12-man roster to Paris before stepping down to allow a new coach to take the helm of Team USA.
When the 2028 Summer Olympics begin, Green will be 38 years old and nearing the end of his NBA career. So it's very likely that this was his last chance to win a third gold medal.
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