The Golden State Warriors managed to secure a big win last night. Taking on the Sacramento Kings at home, the Warriors went in without the services of Draymond Green. Green, who got ejected from Game 2 after a tussle with Domantas Sabonis, was adjudged a one-game suspension.
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Many did not assume there would be any suspension involved, but apparently Green’s ‘history’ played a role in the league making this call.
The following was released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/KEnWx2qTvs
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 19, 2023
People waited for a reaction from the team, especially from Draymond. However, there was no reaction from Green until a little while ago. The Warriors beat the Kings 114-97 in his absence and put the series at 2-1. He took out an episode of his podcast and talked about the win, as well as the suspension.
Draymond Green ridicules league for taking incident with Steven Adams in account for suspension
Back in 2016, Warriors were facing the Thunder in the WCFs. During Game 3, Green was driving to the hoop when he got lost the ball to Steven Adams. However, while losing the ball, Green went up and kicked Adams in the groin. DG was assessed a Flagrant 2 Foul and was ejected from the game.
Later, the Warriors were in the Finals against LeBron James. In Game 4, Draymond Green and LeBron got into a tussle, where Dray swung his arms and hit LBJ in the groin area.
He earned a Flagrant foul for the same and was suspended for Game 5 of the series. We all know how that ended. Talking about his suspension on the podcast, Green said,
“I never knew you could be suspended for a flagrant two that happened seven years ago. And I also didn’t know you could get suspended for interacting with a crowd that’s flipping you double birds and yelling your name and chanting that you suck. I didn’t know that either. Saying that, my guys played well.”
The suspension was unfair this time, especially with Sabonis being the one who initiated the contact. Even Stephen Curry talked about the same by discussing the ‘history‘ the Warriors have.
Draymond’s history with foul troubles and suspensions
Draymond Green has been in the league since 2012, and is one of the most successful playoff performers. Having played 147 playoff games, Draymond has a win percentage of 69.4%, trailing only his teammate, Klay Thompson(69.6%), for the highest playoff win percentage(min. 100 games).
During these 147 games, Draymond has picked up 27 Technical Fouls and Six Flagrant Fouls. These have led to two suspensions now and two ejections. Heading into Game 4, Green and the Warriors would like to put the suspension in the past and level the series at home.
