The Golden State Warriors stand out Draymond Green has been suspended for Game 3 of his team’s first-round playoff series against the Sacramento Kingsthe NBA announced this Tuesday evening.
Green was ejected from Monday’s Game 2 loss to the Kings after hitting the chest of Domantas Sabonis in the fourth quarter, receiving a flagrant-2 for his action as the defending champs fell into an 0-2 hole in the first-round series.
In the lead-up to Green’s fumble, Sabonis appeared to grab Green’s leg as the Warriors forward tried to get up the court to get on offense.
Green was upset by the refs’ lack of call on Sabonis’ catch, implying that he did not intentionally step on Sabonis’ chest.
“They grabbed my leg. Second time in two nights,” Green said, referring to a Game 1 play with Malik Monk. “The referees just look at it. I have to put my foot somewhere. I’m not the most flexible person, so it doesn’t stretch that far.”
Green continued to show his frustration with what happened on social media after the game. In an Instagram story, Green posted a screenshot of Sabonis grabbing his leg and wrote, “Nothing to see here. Solid basketball game!!”
Sabonis ended up receiving a technical foul for grabbing him, but stayed in the game. He initially dismissed the play as “playoff basketball” before calling out Green for the play.
“What happened, I feel like we can’t have that in our game today,” Sabonis said.
Sabonis ended up getting X-rays to check his ribs and lungs later. Those came back negative, according to ESPN. Green also underwent an X-ray on his ankle, requesting one after Monday’s game because he was in pain.
Shannon Sharpe of FOX Sports believed Sabonis grabbing Green’s ankle is what could have saved him from a suspension, saying Sabonis’ action was “not a basketball play.”
“When I saw it, I thought, ‘Draymond is going to be suspended,'” Sharpe said on Tuesday’s “Undisputed.” “But I think the only thing that could save him, because what he did was not a basketball play , but Sabonis didn’t grab his ankle either. And since they called Sabonis a technical foul, I think that could give Draymond a suspension from being suspended.”
Sharpe didn’t buy the excuse Green gave for stepping on Sabonis.
“Draymond said he’s not flexible, you sure did a great job hitting Steven Adams one time,” Sharpe said, referring to Green’s groin kick to Adams in the Conference Finals West 2016. “You sure have a leg up to kick it.”
Skip Bayless agreed with Sharpe that Sabonis’ ankle grab didn’t call for Green to step on the Kings big man’s chest, though he also doesn’t think Sabonis was a saint.
“It was a dirty tactic,” Bayless said. “I’m not going to say it was a dangerous play because I don’t think Draymond was in danger of getting hurt. It didn’t put him in a precarious spot or position. The thing is, he did grab his ankle. in plain sight and the refs saw it and then started it. But Draymond can’t finish it even though the emotions are running high and heavy. You can’t finish it with a Ndamukong Suh memorial stomp.”
But Bayless said he felt it was “50/50 at best” that Green would be suspended for Game 3.
“My heart is saying that he shouldn’t be suspended because Sabonis, in this case, initiated and Draymond responded, and he responded completely out of bounds,” Bayless said. “But the thing is, you have to give him a little break here, and I do. My heart is saying that.
“My boss says he has such a long history of this type of behavior that he was even suspended before Game 5 of the NBA Finals.”
Kings coach Mike Brown was also curious to see how the league would discipline Green for his action.
“It was a flagrant-2 for sure,” Brown said. “It will be interesting to see what the NBA does after they review it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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