On Tuesday night, Draymond Green channeled his inner Dirty D and did what Dirty D inevitably does.
The victim that night was Phoenix Suns forward Jusuf Nurkic, who was the recipient of a vicious slap to the face as Green was trying to “sell a call.”
After the game, Green apologized and said it wasn’t intentional.
“I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” explained Green. “I sell calls with my arms. I don’t fall to sell a call. I’m not a flopper,” said Green. “So I spun away and unfortunately, I hit him. And so I like I said, I apologized to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him.”
Selling calls with your arms is one thing. But doing an open-handed flailing whirlwind attempt akin to a “Street Fighter” character is entirely different.
The NBA has rules against arm flailing, which they clearly illustrate in this video. In that example, ruled a Flagrant 1, the NBA states, “There is hard impact, and significant contact is made. There is also potential for injury as well. A Flagrant Foul, Penalty 1 is defined as contact that is unnecessary.”
Draymond took things to a different level as he used his entire body to spin around, build momentum, and crack Nurkic in the face. Regardless of his intent, Green was hit with a Flagrant 2 and was ejected.
This was Green’s sixth career suspension and his second suspension this season. In November, Green applied a rear naked choke to the Timberwolves Rudy Gobert, earning him a five-game suspension.
Green isn’t just hurting other players. He’s hurting The Warriors with his dirty play, and Tuesday night’s spinning back fist was the latest example for all to see.
On Wednesday, NBA fans were wondering not if he would be suspended, but how many games would he get.
Later that night, the NBA issued its verdict and suspended Green indefinitely.
“Green’s suspension will begin immediately. He will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play,” wrote the NBA in its decision.
The NBA finally brought the hammer down on Green, and rightfully so. As the league noted, his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” was taken into account and he needed to be severely punished for his continued antics.
This rightful suspension will cost Draymond $154,000 per game if it’s fewer than 20 games, but it escalates to $203,000 if it exceeds 20 games.
Over the last twenty years, the NBA has taken steps to clean up its image from the rough and physical gameplay of the 1990s. It instituted new rules and even implemented a dress code to remove “the street” from its benches and arenas.
And with the league reaching new heights in terms of revenue, ratings, global interest and the recent success of the inaugural In Season Tournament, it couldn’t afford to take a step backward. And definitely not with new media rights negotiations looming in 2024.
So the NBA had to administer some serious “act right” on a player who threatens its image and the hard work it has taken to remove the extra physicality and violence from the game.
And Commissioner Silver and the league got it right.
If Ja Morant got 25 games for being foolish, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittention 50 and 38 games, respectively, for bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room in 2010, Miles Bridges 30 games for domestic violence this past April, and Ron Artest an entire season for the infamous 2004 “Malice at the Palace”, the NBA had to act swiftly and wield a heavy fist for six to ten games would not cut it.
Instead, the league now has the opportunity to push Draymond to the side and let the Warriors, his management team and family deal with him until it deems him ready to return.
Hurting yourself is one thing.
Hurting other players and the image of the league is another.
Last night, the NBA got it right and now it’s time that Draymond Green got right, too.
