Draymond Green will have his Warriors returning soon, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver played a big role in that.
Before the Warriors forward was reinstated into the league on Saturday after serving a 12-game suspension last month for punching Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face, Green revealed he had a very vulnerable and had an honest conversation with the NBA commissioner about leaving the game for good before Silver talked him out of it.
Silver spoke to the media on Thursday before the Cleveland Cavaliers-Brooklyn Nets game in Paris, France, and he was asked about the conversation he had with Green. The commissioner did not dispute the claim that he convinced Green not to retire.
“As far as Draymond is concerned, at the time we had these conversations, certainly from my perspective, those conversations were private,” Silver said. “That is his right if he chooses to make them public. There was certainly no agreement that everything would be private, but I'll leave it to him to comment on what we discussed.”
“I would speak out if he said something that was inconsistent with our discussions. Finally, I just want to say that I'm glad he's about to return. And I have the feeling that he used the time away from the floor to be very productive.”
The NBA suspended Green indefinitely on December 13, the day after the Nurkić incident. The hope for everyone involved was that Green would take the time he needed to focus on himself and get his thoughts together before returning to the Warriors.
Green got the green light from the league on Saturday and returned to Warriors practice a few days later. But on the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” which premiered Monday, the four-time NBA champion admitted that he went through several dark days while he was away and even considered retiring from the game.
“I told him, ‘Adam, this is too much for me. This is too much. It's all getting too much for me – and I'm going to retire,'” Green said. “And Adam said, 'You're making a very rash decision and I'm not going to let that happen.'
“We had a long, great conversation – very helpful for me. I'm very grateful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who cares more about helping you than hurting you; to help you instead of punishing you. He cares more about the players.”
The Warriors, who are 17-20 in the 2023-24 NBA season after their last disappointing 2-5 home game, would certainly like to have their defensive star back on the court, but they want to make sure the timing is right, like them look to turn the season around.
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