NBA suspended Draymond Green for Game 3 because of his reputation as a 'repeat offender'
Draymond Green's history as a "repeat offender" played into the NBA's decision to suspend the forward for Game 3 of the Golden State Warriors' playoff series with the Sacramento Kings, NBA Executive VP Joe Dumars told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"Here’s what it came down to: Excessive and over-the-top actions, conduct detrimental and a repeat offender. That’s what separates this where you end up with a suspension," Dumars said. “You know what the situation is, but you have to set that aside and look at the facts in front of you. ... Repeat offender weighs as heavy as anything.”
Officials ejected Green in the fourth quarter of Game 2 after he stepped on Kings forward Domantas Sabonis following a missed shot and rebound. Green claimed his leg was held by Sabonis and he was only trying to step forward without injuring himself. Sabonis was issued a technical foul and later diagnosed with "a sternum contusion" Sabonis is questionable for Game 3.
Sabonis' injury, coupled with Green's interaction with game officials after the call, also helped the NBA come to a decision to suspend Green.
"It plays a part — you don't ignore that," Dumars said regarding Sabonis' injury. " Sabonis was penalized in the game with a technical foul, and Golden State gets the free throw. It wasn't like [Sabonis] didn't get off without any punishment, but we didn't think that rose to the level of excessive and over-the-top, conduct detrimental and repeat offender. That's why you separate those two and deal with one act on the court — and then another act."
Dumars added that a different player "may have been" treated differently for the same action, but "the act itself still would have been looked at in a serious way — stomping on a guy's chest."
"On the back end of this act, you add repeat offender and that's how you end up getting to a suspension," he said.
Green was last suspended in the postseason during the 2016 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He missed Game 5 when he accumulated too many flagrant fouls after he hit then-Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the groin in Game 4. The loss of Green helped spur the Cavaliers' 3-1 comeback series win to capture James' third championship and first for Cleveland.
He was suspended on March 17 of this season as well, only that was because Green was called for his 16th technical foul of the season.
Green's status as a 'dirty player'
The 'dirty' moniker has followed Green throughout his NBA career.
The Finals suspension sealed it, but Green had been called for a groin hit to then-Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams before he did it to James. Green denied he did anything on purpose in a 2016 interview with Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson and said he didn't like that people think he plays dirty.
"I hate that. I hate that," Draymond said. "I don't like people calling me dirty because I know I don't do dirty things. At the end of the day, they're gonna say whatever they want to say, and I'm not gonna lose no sleep over it. But I don't like people to call me dirty because I know I'm not a dirty player.
“A lot of people look at the Steven Adams thing and say, ‘Oh my God, that’s so dirty.’ But like I said, I swear on everything I didn’t do that on purpose. I didn’t even know I did it … it is what it is and people are going to always have an opinion, and I’m not gonna lose no sleep, but it does bother me.”
Green later hit Irving with his foot in Game 1 of the Finals — which he also claimed was accidental — before the infamous James hit that cost him a Game 5 appearance.
He's been suspended only four times in his career but ejected 17 times and amassed 163 technical fouls and $1.4 million in fines since 2013, according to Spotrac.
