Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been kicked out of a playoff game and handed a suspension by the NBA. Sound familiar? This isn’t the first time the Michigan State alum has had this happen.
During the Warriors’ surprising 114-106 loss to their in-state rivals, the Sacramento Kings, star Draymond Green got frustrated and stomped on the chest of the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis. Green was ejected with 7:03 remaining in the fourth quarter after the stomp, which can be seen in the video below. The Warriors went on to face their first 0-2 playoff series deficit in the new era of the team, headlined by Steph Curry.
Draymond Green stomps on Domantas Sabonis.
He was hit with a flagrant 2 foul and ejected. pic.twitter.com/gYWvNO9lHR
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 18, 2023
The vicious play, one that many fans and commentators have called a dirty move, was called a flagrant two after review, which sent Green to the locker room early. The NBA announced the suspension with a lengthy release, saying:
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended one game without pay for stepping on the chest of Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. The suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.
Green’s actions were in response to Sabonis grabbing and holding Green’s right ankle after falling to the floor. Green received a Flagrant Foul 2 and was ejected, and Sabonis was assessed a technical foul.
The incident occurred with 7:03 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 114-106 loss to the Kings in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on April 17 at Golden 1 Center.
Green will serve his suspension April 20 when the Warriors host the Kings for Game 3 of the series at Chase Center.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported about the Warriors’ position on the Green suspension. From what he said, the team sounds completely incensed following the league’s decision. MSN shared his quote from Wojnarowski:
“One word – livid. They certainly didn’t agree with the one-game suspension and they were surprised at it. They certainly went through this in The Finals with Cleveland, losing Draymond Green for a game in 2016, but they are going to have to live with it. There is really nowhere to go with an appeal in these situations.”
Former NBA player JJ Reddick also went on ESPN and spoke poorly about the refereeing in this series. Whether or not that stems from the league’s decision on Green’s suspension is not clear:
“The referees have dictated too much in the Kings’ favor in this series, I really believe that. And I don’t know if it’s the home crowd or whatever, I rarely complain about the referees, in fact, I don’t know if I have ever complained about the referees! I think they are great, but if they are going to come back in this series they’ve got to call the game the way the game is supposed to be called.”
The referees and league may have made the right decision, or they may not have. Both fans and people within the league want to see officials become more clear about how and why they came to conclusions such as this.
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