Why is Draymond Green suspended?

THE GOLDEN State Warrior's game against the Phoenix Suns was interrupted as Draymond Green was ejected from the match.

In the middle of the play, the power forward slapped Jusuf Nurkic.

Why is Draymond Green suspended?

On December 13, 2023, the NBA announced they were indefinitely suspending Draymond Green for striking Jusuf Nurkic during the Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns game.

On the previous night, Green spun around and slapped Nurkic during the match's third quarter.

As a result, he received a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected from the game.

In a statement, the league clarified: "Green’s suspension will begin immediately.

"This outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.

"He will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play."

According to the league's guidelines, a flagrant foul 2 is deemed as "unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent."

Similarly, a flagrant foul 1 is described as "unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent."

Warriors head coach Steven Kerr chimed in and commented: "The suspension makes sense.

"To me, this is about more than basketball. It's about helping Draymond.

"It's an opportunity for Draymond to step away and to make a change in his approach, in his life.

"And that's not an easy thing to do, that's not something you say, 'Okay, we're going to do five games.'

"That's not the answer, to pick a number. The answer is to help Draymond.

"This is not just about an outburst on the court...this is about his life."

How did Green respond to his suspension from the Warriors?

In a post-game press conference, Green told the crowd: "I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do.

"But I do apologize to Jusuf. Even though I didn’t intend to hit him, I sell calls with my arms.

"I don’t fall to sell a call. I’m not a flopper. I was just selling the call because he was grabbing and pulling my hip.

"So, I spun away, and I swung, and unfortunately, I hit him. So, I apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him."

He added: "If I go look at every replay of everything, a replay is never going to look good.

"But I know my intentions and my intentions were to sell the call.

"I also don't think I'm an accurate enough puncher to do a full 360 and connect with someone. So it's unfortunate.

"But my intentions were just to sell the foul, and he was, as you can see, moving forward.

"So, as I'm moving back, he's still coming forward. Again, I apologized to Nurkic because I hit him."

Meanwhile, Nurkic later responded to Green's apology: "Personally, I feel like that brother needs the help.

"I don't know man. I was behind the play. What's going on [with] him, I don't know.

"I'm glad he didn't try to choke me. At the same time, it ain't nothing to do with basketball."

Green followed up Nurkic's comments with an additional take and shared: "Respect. I still know what my intentions were.

"But with respect, I think we all need help. But I will tell him the same thing I just told you.

"I apologize to him, I did not intend to hit him, but he has a right to feel how he wants to feel about it.

"I am not going to sit here and try to go back and forth on how he feels about it. It is on him."

How many times has Green been suspended?

Green's incident with Nurkic is the fifth time he's been suspended by the league.

His first suspension occurred on June 12, 2016.

During the Warrior game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was temporarily removed after receiving his fourth Flagrant 1 foul for an altercation with LeBron James.

On November 14, 2018, Green was suspended a second time for an altercation with Kevin Durant.

On March 15, 2023, he was suspended a third time for making 16 technical fouls in one season.

He received his fourth suspension on November 14 of the same year.

During the Warriors game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Green intervened in an altercation between Klay Thompson, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert.

The incident between the four ended with Green putting Gobert in a chokehold.