Draymond Green made headlines in Game 2 of the first round series between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. At the 7:03 mark of the 4th quarter, Green and Domantas Sabonis would get tangled up underneath the rim, leading to each of them hitting the floor.
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In the scuffle, Sabonis, in an effort to protect his face from being stepped on, would grab a slight hold of Dray’s leg. In an attempt to free himself, Green would stomp on Domantas’s mid-section, leading to him writhing in pain on the floor for a considerable amount of time.
Draymond was assessed a Flagrant 2 and was ejected while Domantas was given a technical foul. In his postgame press conference, Green defended his play and claimed this was the second time he had his leg grabbed and the referees didn’t notice. Sabonis would go on to say that there was no place for a play like that in basketball.
Damian Lillard on the Draymond Green suspension
Draymond Green, for this violent play of his, has been suspended for Game 3 on April 20th. Shams Charania reported earlier today that it was ‘highly unlikely’ that Green would be suspended only for the NBA Communications department to suspend him a couple hours later.
It was his ‘history of unsportsmanlike conduct’ that was the nail in the coffin for Green. One man who seems to disagree quite vehemently with this decision taken by the NBA is Damian Lillard.
Lillard took to Twitter yesterday to say that Draymond did nothing wrong and that Sabonis grabbed his leg. Today, he would react to the Green suspension with a facepalm emoji and respond to a fan saying that him getting suspended is ‘crazy’.
A suspension is crazy . 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/8aNWJvarKT
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 19, 2023
🤦🏾♂️ https://t.co/NKjd10Y9Fj
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 19, 2023
Draymond Green and Damian Lillard relationship
Dame and Draymond Green have a great relationship with one another. They would get close during the 2021 Olympics and it would be Green who would push Dame into getting his abdominal surgery during the 2021-22 season.
Whether this is a bias towards a close friend or genuine analysis from Dame, it’s not clear. However, most of NBA Twitter seems to agree with the fact that what Draymond did was out of line.