NBA hands down further punishment to Golden State Warriors' forward Draymond Green
The NBA has delivered a further punishment to Draymond Green after the Golden State Warriors' forward was ejected from his team's 104-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night at Chase Center.
The 33-year-old got Timberwolves' center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, having responded to an early game scuffle that started between Golden State guard Klay Thompson and Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels.
The NBA has suspended Golden State Warriors' star Draymond Green for five games after his actions on Rudy Gobert during Tuesday night's game.
Green will miss the Warriors next five games according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. That will start with Thursday night's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder where Golden State will also be minus superstar guard Stephen Curry through injury.
The former Defensive Player of the Year's absence is a further blow to the Warriors who, after a strong start to the season, have lost their last four games and five of the last six.
Klay got his jersey ripped and Draymond came to his defense pic.twitter.com/zGg3uVDfZu
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 15, 2023
Some had been calling for an even bigger punishment, including ESPN analyst Jay Williams who called for Green to be suspended for 10 games. Speaking after the game, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr tried to provide some reasoning behind Green's actions.
""I saw one replay right after it happened. The guys on the back of the bench were telling us that Rudy had Klay. That's why Draymond went after Rudy. That's all I know, but it was a bizarre way to start the game," Kerr said."
Green will miss two matchups against the Thunder, another home outing against the red-hot Houston Rockets, a visit to Phoenix to face the Suns at Footprint Center, and a battle against number one overall pick Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
What looked like an optimistic home stretch for the Warriors has quickly turned into a disaster. They've sunk back to a 6-6 record, though Curry's absence is expected to be short with the two-time MVP to be re-evaluated later this week.
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