Draymond Green ejected from Tuesday night’s 119-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns after receiving a flagrant foul 2 in the second half.
Draymond Green might have another suspension in his future.
The ejection is Green’s third of the season, out of 15 games played. So he has been ejected from 20% of the games he’s appeared in so this season.
Two weeks after returning from a five-game suspension for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, the chronically embattled Golden State Warriors forward was ejected from a game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday for taking a wild swing at center Jusuf Nurkić.
Draymond Green ejected due to flagrant 2
Green was ejected with 8:23 left in the third quarter after he swung and hit Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic in the head while defending him. At first, while Green’s back was turned to Nurkic, he repeatedly held Nurkic off of him. Eventually, Green turned and hit Nurkic in the head with his hand. Officials deemed the foul a flagrant 2 after a video review.
The play was immediately called as a foul and later upgraded to a flagrant 2, an automatic ejection.
Green will almost certainly face a fine for the incident, with a suspension depending on how the league office reviews the incident.
At the time of his ejection, Green had 2 points on 1-of-3 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 turnovers. The Warriors were leading 65-60 when he left and proceeded to lose 119-116 to fall to 10-13 on the season. This was in a game where the Suns were missing Kevin Durant.
Green apologized for hitting Nurkić after the game, claiming the blow was an accident caused by an attempt to sell a call:
“I am not one to apologize for things I mean to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” Green said after the game. “I sell calls with my arms … so I was selling the call … and I swung and unfortunately I hit him.”
The ejection is his third of the season, and he now will have to await a league office review for the possibility of another suspension.
The first ejection was easily the most mild of the three, coming after a heated confrontation with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell. It probably wouldn’t have been notable had it been any player other than Green.
The second one was different, and perhaps the most bizarre incident in a career that is being increasingly defined by bizarre incidents. This one started with Klay Thompson and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels getting into an on-court grappling match, then saw Green jump in and haul Gobert out by the neck.
Even Green, who is 33 years old, acknowledged he had room to grow after the incident. Tuesday wasn’t a good sign in that regard.
“We need him. We need Draymond. He knows that,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ve talked to him. He’s got to find a way to keep his poise and be out there for his teammates.”
Green acknowledged Kerr’s message.
“Like I said, if I intended to do that, then I would feel awful about not being there,” Green said. “But my intentions were just to sell the foul.
“You guys have known me long enough, if I intended to do something, I am not apologizing. But I did make contact with him, so I do apologize. … It’s a hard hit.”
Nurkic said Green’s actions “had nothing to do with basketball,” and Suns coach Frank Vogel called it “a reckless, dangerous play.”
“I’m sensitive to our guys getting hit on plays like that,” Vogel said. “I didn’t like it. The refs did what they had to do. The league will do what they have to do.”
The NBA specifically cited Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike acts” when announcing the following five-game suspension, and will likely do the same as the deliberate on his next punishment.
It was already a difficult season for the Warriors, who remain in 11th place in the West and on the outside of the playoff picture. Their core, including Green, is still aging and their young players haven’t picked up the slack like their brass hoped they would. Another suspension for Green obviously won’t help.