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Draymond Green Suspended Indefinitely by NBA for Slamming Suns C Jusuf Nurkić (Video)

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Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday after the Golden State Warriors veteran was sent off for a hit on Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić on Tuesday night. This marked Green’s second suspension of the season.

In his announcement, the league said Green must “meet certain league and team conditions before he can return to play.” It’s unclear what that means specifically or how long Green will be out. The league “considered Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike conduct” when determining this suspension, it said.

Green, according to ESPN’s Adrian WojnarowskiHe is expected to meet with Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy and Green’s agent on Thursday to discuss a “path of advice and assistance for Green moving forward.”

Draymond Green is eliminated after attacking Jusuf Nurkić

In the third quarter of the Warriors’ 119-116 loss to the Suns on Tuesday night in Phoenix, Green began jostling with Nurkić for position on an inbounds play. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Green turned and swung. He hit Nurkić right in the face with his right hand, sending the 7-footer to the field.

Green was quickly assessed a foul, which was upgraded to a flagrant 2. As a result, he was ejected from the game.

“I’m not the type to apologize for things I plan to do, but I apologize to Yusuf because I didn’t mean to hit him,” Green said after the game, via ESPN. “I sell calls with my arms…so I sold the call…and I swung and unfortunately I hit it.”

Nurkić said Green’s swing had “nothing to do with basketball.” Suns coach Frank Vogel also criticized Green after the game, calling his move “a reckless, dangerous move.”

“I’m sensitive to our guys getting hit on plays like that,” Vogel said, via ESPN. “I did not like it. The referees did what they had to do. The league will do what it had to do.”

This latest incident came just weeks after Green returned from his previous five-game suspension, which hit him after he put Minnesota Timberwolves forward Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. Green, still tied 0-0 in this season’s tournament game last month, flew in and put Gobert in a chokehold after Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Warriors guard Klay Thompson got in, sparking a major altercation.

Draymond Green was suspended for the second time this season on Wednesday.Draymond Green was suspended for the second time this season on Wednesday.

Draymond Green was suspended for the second time this season on Wednesday. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today) (USA Today Sports/Reuters)

Green didn’t apologize for his behavior after that game and said he will always defend his teammates, but admitted there is “room for growth and I need to be better in those moments and in different situations.”

Green was suspended for “escalating an on-court altercation” following the chokehold incident, which was decided in part because of Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike conduct.” The NBA used the same reasoning for this suspension.

This latest suspension is Green’s sixth in his career. He was suspended last postseason after kicking Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis in the chest. Green has now suffered 18 regular-season failures in his career, the most of any active player in the league. He has already been sent off three times this season, or in 20% of the games he has played in.

Green entered Tuesday averaging 9.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds this season, his 12th in the league. The loss to the Suns dropped the Warriors to 10-13. They next face the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night, without Green.

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