Draymond Green’s suspension divides fans and damages Warriors
By Cal Durrett
The NBA finally released its verdict on the Draymond Green and Domantas Sabonis incident. In Game 2 of the Warriors-Kings series, Green was assessed a flagrant II for stomping on Sabonis while he was on the ground. However, Sabonis appear to hold onto Green’s leg, complicating things.
Many contend that Green was simply trying to shake free when he stumped on Sabonis. Whether you buy that or not, it’s clear that the incident has sharply divided fans and hurts Golden State. The Warriors were already down two games to zero in their first-round series, and now they will be without their starting power forward for a crucial Game 3. Here is some reaction from around the NBA.
🤦🏾♂️ https://t.co/NKjd10Y9Fj
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 19, 2023
Look at Sabonis man.. TF was Dray supposed to do? pic.twitter.com/ZMrNBvLjoY
— De🅿️ressed Warriors Fan 💔 (@GoIdenState) April 18, 2023
Draymond’s past incidents come back to haunt him and the Warriors.
The NBA’s decision also took into account Green’s list of past misconduct, which unfortunately is quite long. When factoring that in, the NBA simply couldn’t give Green the benefit of the doubt. That obviously hurts the Warriors, but his past misconduct has too. Green infamously punched his teammate Jordan Poole this past summer, which probably did little to help the Warriors’ chemistry.
He also famously got suspended in the 2016 NBA Finals after receiving too many flagrant foul points, leading to him missing Game 5. That, of course, helped the Cleveland Cavaliers rally from a 1-3 hole to come back and win the series. More recently, Green was tied for second in the NBA in technical fouls this season, proving that he has a problem with controlling his emotions.
Blaming Sabonis for grabbing his foot doesn’t give Green a free pass to stomp on him. After all, many players have been held, but why is he the only one who reacted that way?
It's one thing to shake loose but he put some power into the "stomp"
— Cal Durrett (@crdurrett) April 18, 2023
Next. Kings take 2-0 lead as Warriors road struggles continue. dark
Overall, people can argue about Green’s suspension all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that Golden State is in real trouble. They will have to try and pull even with the Kings in their two games in San Francisco to force a pivotal Game 5 on the road.
Even then, the Warriors are one of the worst road teams in the NBA. Green getting into trouble with the NBA, as usual, couldn’t come at the worst time for his team, and they are left shorthanded when they need him the most.