Draymond Green will not play on Wednesday night after he was suspended for stomping on Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis, but some within the Golden State Warriors organization believe Sabonis has been the issue during the series with his dirty play.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his podcast Wednesday that the Warriors are unhappy with the NBA for not cracking down what they perceive to be cheap shots from Sabonis. Golden State feels Sabonis has gotten away with dirty play while Green was disciplined for retaliating.
“The Warriors were shocked and caught off guard (when Green was suspended),” Lowe said, as transcribed by RealGM. “There is some anger within the organization toward the league. There’s a sense in the organization that Sabonis is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his elbows out and using the ball as a weapon on offense. ‘So of course someone eventually retaliated.’ You can give that any validity you want.”
Sabonis clearly grabbed Green’s ankle before Green stomped on Sabonis’ chest during Sacramento’s win over the Warriors in Game 2 (video here). The bigger issue for the NBA is that Green is a repeat offender, and a league executive indicated that Green was suspended mostly for that reason.
For what it’s worth, Warriors big man Kevin Looney said he has not noticed anything out of the ordinary with Sabonis’ play.
Kevon Looney says Domantas Sabonis style of play is ‘pretty normal’ pic.twitter.com/BJ9ulW63R4
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 19, 2023
“As a big man, that’s what we do. I think that’s pretty normal — the pushing, the shoving, the grabbing. That’s all part of the protocol down there,” Looney said Wednesday. “Sometimes they call it, sometimes they don’t. I enjoy and hopefully I get the benefit of the doubt next time.”
It would not be a surprise if officials watch Sabonis more closely in Game 3 on Thursday night. But, again, the issue was more about Green’s history of committing dangerous plays. This is not even the first time he has been suspended during the playoffs for a dirty play. Green lost the benefit of the doubt a long time ago.
