The NBA gave no clear timetable for when Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green could return from his recent suspension. On Monday, NBA executive Joe Dumars explained why.
Green was ejected from his team’s Dec. 12 contest for striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face (video here). The NBA suspended Green indefinitely the next day.
The suspension was Green’s second of the season following an even more violent altercation in early November.
Dumars, who serves was the NBA’s head of basketball operations, spoke about the league’s reasoning behind Green’s open-ended suspension. Dumars explained that the NBA wanted to take a “more holistic and rehabilitative perspective.”
“We didn’t want to get focused on just a number,” Dumars said, via The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov. “You put 5, 10, 15, 20 — whatever you put — that becomes the focus. Everybody focuses on that many games, as opposed to ‘Draymond, take some time off, get yourself right, whatever you need to do. Get your help, and get yourself right.’ And (we) didn’t want him to feel, ‘Well, I have to hurry up and do this now because I have, whatever, 5, 10, 15, 20 games.’ And so there is no minimum threshold.”
Dumars added that the NBA’s purpose is to help Green “get better” in order to suppress what’s been a recurring problem for the 4-time All-Star. Green will return once the league, the Warriors, and the player himself all feel as though he is ready — however long that takes.
According to reports, Green has already begun taking steps toward rehabilitation.
