Draymond Green is in trouble again for yet another violent encounter. The Golden State Warriors star’s recent comments may shed light on the troubled state of the 4-time NBA champion.
Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday for striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic. Green was ejected from the Suns-Warriors contest the night before due to the incident (video here).
The former Defensive Player of the Year spoke to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne a week before his encounter with Nurkic. Green recounted with Shelburne the cause of his first suspension of the season — his chokehold on Rudy Gobert last month.
Green admitted that he only realized how long he choked out Gobert upon seeing a replay.
“When I watched it back, I said, ‘Damn, I held him much longer than I realized in that moment,'” Green said. “But the reality is, in those moments, you don’t know what time is. You don’t have a sense of time.”
There’s an eeriness to hearing Green talk about his violent outbursts in such a manner just a week before his next one.
It’s pretty concerning that Green didn’t seem to understand the gravity of what he was doing in the moment, which once again manifested Tuesday when he swung at Nurkic.
Green claimed that the Nurkic incident was unintentional despite the force he applied on the strike.
Draymond Green apologized to Jusuf Nurkic for his swinging hit above the shoulders, but said it was unintentional and he was just trying to sell a foul pic.twitter.com/uyXfaZ9F2D
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 13, 2023
Green told Shelburne that he’s fully aware that he “hurts” the Warriors whenever he’s not on the floor. He understood that he had to put his ego aside to make sure another incident wasn’t going to sideline him. But as we know now, that wasn’t the case.
The suspension is Green’s fourth over the last two seasons alone.
