Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors locker room leader who has been the subject of endless sports talk in recent weeks, spoke today about his recent 12-game suspension for punching Golden State Warriors center Jusuf Nurkic during a Dec. 13 game Phoenix Suns performed.
Green has been suspended four times since March. His most recent involuntary absence came just six games after he served a five-game suspension without pay for “escalating an on-field altercation,” which left Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert deadlocked. Needless to say, the sports talk machine analyzed the incidents and details of the four-time NBA champion’s latest offense.
The Warriors are a cornerstone of today’s NBA with four current titles, a groundbreaking style of play and, oh yeah, the best shooter in the history of the game (Stephan Curry). Green’s stats may not be eye-popping, but he is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. As such, he has also played a key role in the league’s success in recent years, leading to soaring ratings and, as expected, a record-breaking new TV contract.
“I heard a lot of what everyone said. And normally I would say, ‘F you,'” Green said at the start of a 50-minute episode of his podcast today: The Draymond Green Show.
He went on to explain that such talk would normally only fuel his fire and create a passionate determination to prove his critics wrong. In his words, he had the attitude of: “Look what I do to you, with all the fuel you give me.” In fact, at some point in the last few days, Green said he was ready to leave the game, and the Warriors promised him a total of $77.7 million for the next three years.
“But this time I decided to listen,” Green said. And what he heard, he said, was “an opportunity for growth.”
Green went through a list of people who suffered because of his behavior, including his wife, himself, his mother, his children, his teammates and even Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob.
“I failed miserably,” Green said.
He compared his “I’ll show you” mentality to that of a 15-year-old.
“I realized the responsibility is much greater. The responsibility placed on me… I handled it miserably. Terrible.”
Green talked about a visit from his coach, Steve Kerr, after the suspension. He talked about the two days he hid in his man cave without telling his children he had come home. Green said hearing all the talk about “he needs help” felt challenged.
“What I realized is: You’re going down the same road again.”
“I made a commitment to myself, the Warriors organization, the NBA, my family, The Volume and all of my partners to listen, and [then] to make my own decision.”
That decision, he said, was to be “an advocate for change.”
“It means accepting that there is room for growth. It means you have to accept that you messed up and are wrong.”
It remains to be seen how lasting these insights will be for a player who also admitted on his podcast that he often played on the edge and sometimes went over it. But there are plenty of people who support him, including NBA commissioner Adam Silver, with whom he had a long conversation about retirement in his spare time.
Green is likely to return this weekend when the Warriors travel to Chicago and Milwaukee.
The Warriors have posted a 7-5 record in his absence and are now 17-18 overall and in 10th place in the Western Conference.
Green’s suspension without pay cost him $1.84 million.
The Dec. 13 suspension came just six games after he served a five-game suspension without pay in November for “escalating an on-field altercation and violently assaulting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner.” manner assaulted.” “Grabbed my neck.”
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
