Why the NBA suspended Draymond Green indefinitely،
As the video clip of Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green punching Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face played repeatedly on phones and televisions, it was easy to miss one aspect the most disappointing of the incident.
Green, in his own words, described Tuesday's second flagrant foul and third ejection in 15 games this season as an accident and even chalked it up to “bad luck” as he tried to “sell” the foul that Green thought Nurkic committed holding his hip. But with Nurkic face down on the court, Green didn't seem to express any remorse.
While the NBA league office grappled with how to handle the emotional response to Green's latest incident, this cold reaction cannot be ignored. Following his five-game suspension for grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert by the neck last month, Green said, “I don't live my life with regrets.”
That Green racks up ejections and suspensions is of course problematic. The NBA's decision to make this suspension indefinite and combine it with a process that will involve counseling shows that the concern is less about punishment and more about trying to focus on the cause.
“Am I learning the lesson I need to learn from this?” » Green said on November 26, at the end of his first suspension this season. “The reality is that the lesson people think they need is never the right one because they don’t know anything about you.
“The message and the lesson are 100% nobody’s business.”
The NBA makes it its business.
Nurkic ultimately received a lukewarm apology from Green after the match. This is more than what was offered to Gobert. Or to Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis when Green was suspended one game for stomping on Sabonis' chest in April during the playoffs, as Green then explained: “I have to put my foot down somewhere.”
For the Warriors, an entire apology operation has been in place for years for Green's behavior. Green will do something offensive, big or small, and the Warriors will fall into a routine. Coach Steve Kerr will apologize for him. Former general manager Bob Myers would apologize for him. The PR staff will do it.
It's not so much about the superficial nature of the gesture. This is because despite all these incidents, technical fouls, fines and suspensions over the years, Green's behavior has not varied much. His continued actions do not indicate that he is truly sorry for anything.
This is what the NBA is trying to resolve with this latest suspension announcement process that it has intentionally left vague. Whether it works is another matter.
At the very least, it would stifle the news cycle that was primed to respond regardless of how many games Green received if it were a traditional suspension. But it also means admitting that simply increasing sanctions does not work.
“It's something we're working hard on behind the scenes. Draymond has to find a way not to cross the line. And I'm not talking about an eviction or a technical problem, I'm talking about an act of physical violence. This is inexcusable. We must do everything we can to provide him with the help and assistance he needs to make this distinction.”
Kerr said this on November 16. But this quote could have come from many times over the last decade. The Warriors signed Green to a $100 million deal in July, making it clear that concerns about that have their limits.
Last year, after Green punched teammate Jordan Poole during preseason practice, Green announced he was taking time off to “continue working on myself.” Green was back in time for ring night.
Since then, he has been suspended four times.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and executive vice president Joe Dumars — the so-called discipline czar and one of the most respected men in the league office — are trying to get Green to examine ways in which he can break this cycle.
They proposed this unusual penalty to try to force change. They're trying to help the Warriors develop a way to deal with Green's issues, whether the team wants help or not. They're trying to make this the final suspension of Green's likely Hall of Fame career.
Good luck.
