Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green was “indefinitely suspended” by the NBA on Wednesday after hitting Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic on Tuesday night, the league announced.
Green (33), quadruple NBA champion with the Warriors, has made a number of bad gestures during his career and had already been suspended five matches for strangling Frenchman Rudy Gobert in mid-November.
“This decision takes into account Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA wrote in its press release, specifying that the player “will have to fulfill certain conditions given by the league before being able to play again.”
Tuesday, Draymond Green heavily slapped Phoenix Suns pivot Jusuf Nurkic, returning to the duel, being immediately expelled by the referees during his team’s defeat (119-116).
“It’s not my style but I apologize to Jusuf. I didn’t mean to hit him. I wanted to make a gesture to call for a foul because he was grabbing my hip, so I threw my arms out and touched him (…) I know my intentions and it was right to call for a foul “, explained Green after the meeting.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Personally I think the ‘brother’ needs help,” commented Nurkic.
“I’m glad he didn’t try to strangle me. It has nothing to do with basketball. We’ve seen this often, I don’t know what’s going on in his life, but I hope it will work out.”
Green, double Olympic champion with Team USA (2016 and 2021), had already been suspended during the last play-offs for having stepped on an opponent, hit a teammate in training last year, or was deprived of several matches during the 2016 finals for a bad gesture on LeBron James.
His Golden State Warriors are in great difficulty at the start of the season and are only in 11th place in the Western Conference, outside the play-off zone.
