Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has weighed in on the decision to suspend Draymond Green for his confrontation with Kevin Durant.
There has been widespread speculation that the suspension was at least partially fueled by Golden State’s desire to show Durant how much they value him, as he is a free agent at the end of the season. Lacob, however, said that motive had nothing to do with the decision.
“I’ve read and heard all the things people are talking about. That we’re choosing one person over another,” Lacob said, via Al Saracevic of SFGate. “We’re not choosing anybody over anybody.”
Lacob added that the thought of suspending Green to show Durant how committed they were to him, effectively choosing a side, didn’t even occur to those making the decision.
“It never even occurred to us. That’s not the point,” Lacob said. “The point is, whether it would be any employee, they’d have to act certain ways to be our employee. Draymond knows that he went beyond — won’t say what he did, or what he said, or anything like that — he went beyond what we felt appropriate, so it didn’t matter who it was.”
This will do little to silence those who feel the Warriors were trying to make a statement with the one-game suspension. It also probably won’t do much to change the minds of those who feel that Durant is already gone after the season ends.
