Warriors’ Draymond Green says NBA commish talked him out of retiring،
In an emotional conversation at the time of his indefinite suspension, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green suggested that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked him out of retiring, according to a new episode of “The Draymond Green Show”.
In a Volume Sports podcast excerpt shared with ESPN Monday morning, Green, after punching Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face on Dec. 12, said he shared an exchange with Silver that included discussions about his immediate desire to walk away of the NBA.
“I told him, 'Adam, this is too much for me… This is too much. This is all getting to be too much for me – and I'm going to retire,'” Green said. “And Adam said, 'You're making a very rash decision and I'm not going to let you do that.'
“We had a long, great conversation, which was very helpful to me. I'm very grateful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who is more interested in helping you than hurting you, helping you than 'to punish you. He's more interested in the players.'
Green is set to return from a suspension that has now extended to 14 games. The incident with Nurkic was his second act of violence that resulted in a suspension from the league within a month. Green was suspended for five games for grabbing Minnesota's Rudy Gobert and dragging him onto the field in a chokehold on November 14.
After Green completed a month of counseling, the NBA reinstated him on Saturday and he began ramping up with the Warriors on Sunday for a return that sources say is expected to come in about a week. These counseling sessions should continue after he begins playing again.
Green will join a reeling Warriors team, who are 17-19 and 11th in the Western Conference.
He averaged 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 15 games this season. In the first season of a four-year contract worth $100 million, he loses $153,941 for each game suspended.
