DRAYMOND GREEN SHOULD BE SUSPENDED — FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES, PLEASE
After two pathetic nights — yanking Patty Mills by the throat, then confronting a ref to earn his fourth ejection this season — we’re beyond sick of Green and must keep him far beyond the Hall of Fame
If he wants to attend as a valet driver or ticket-taker, the Basketball Hall of Fame might appreciate Draymond Green’s presence. But anyone who thinks he should be remembered in history isn’t watching him raise more holy hell. This is a bad human being who didn’t learn from a 16-game suspension for winding up and striking Jusuf Nurkic in the face, which came after he headlocked Rudy Gobert until his eyeballs bugged out, which came after he stomped on Domantas Sabonis’ chest.
Which came, as you know, amid a “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
Seeing a counselor for three weeks didn’t help Green at Christmas. Costing the Golden State Warriors a fourth straight NBA championship in 2016, after grabbing LeBron James’ crown jewels, didn’t help Green grow up and behave at 34. His TNT career doesn’t matter, either, though the TV network wants him to become the next Charles Barkley as the league tries to help.
He’s a hapless, hopeless, Hades-hacking fool.
And commissioner Adam Silver, if he has any care for the physical well-being of enemy players and the workmanship of referees, will suspend Green again for the remainder of the season. Those who vote for induction in Springfield are advised to watch Green’s every single idiotic move in his 12 seasons. I don’t care about his dirty work, his rebounds, his assists. I don’t care that he has served as Steph Curry’s life-support system. I don’t care that Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who keeps Green on speed dial, took his advice and called about acquiring James last month.
It’s time to prove the game is bigger than his crime illness. Two nights ago, for no apparent reason, Green grabbed Miami’s Patty Mills and pulled him backward by the throat. An announcer referred to the act as “dangerous,” as his partner said “yikes.” Reported a site about Mills’ homeland: “Draymond Green declares war on Australia.” Somehow, the officials didn’t call a flagrant foul. The Warriors won the game in Miami, which angered those who think Silver wants them reaching a Western Conference play-in berth, where Houston is threatening to oust them from 10th place.
Then came Wednesday night, when Green needed less than four minutes to be ejected in Orlando. He shouted at official Ray Acosta after two early foul calls, refused to stop yelling — and was issued two technicals. Players from both teams surrounded the scene to make sure Green didn’t go nuts after, as crew chief Mitchell Ervin said, he had “a prolonged diatribe (and) directed egregious profane vanguard towards a game official.” As usual, coach Steve Kerr continued to defend his maniac, as he has oddly for many years, and complained to the referees. Curry put away the Magic with a “night-night” jumpshot celebration, but despite the victory, the Warriors are only one game ahead of the Rockets, who have won 10 straight. Let’s assume this will be the end of Green and Kerr and Lacob and any other Golden State official who encourages hideous behavior.
Suspend Green. The Warriors lose to the Rockets. And then new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. might begin to see new light. Maybe he’ll ship Green to the Lakers, or any team that actually wants him, and start anew on the happier side of the Bay Bridge. This was Green’s fourth ejection of the season, making him the first to be tossed so often since Kevin Durant left five times in 2017-18 — a rough period caused by Green’s moody intrusions as a teammate. You want history? After being ejected for the second time in the first quarter this season, Green is the only NBA player ever ejected multiple times in the opening minutes in the last 20 years.
We saw this coming. After a recent loss, he made these comments:
“I don’t think we have great habits.”
“We’re a very quiet team.”
“I don’t give a damn about the Rockets.”
Then there was his shoving match with Desmond Bane, which resulted in Green knocking over Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins, who fell to the hardwood. “When we play them, there’s usually some kind of dustup,” said Kerr, who should be knocked on his ass himself.
And to think he actually defended Green that night while noting he’d come close to a long-term suspension. “I really think his career was on the line at that point. I really do,” he said. “The way our discussions went with the league — I think, the nature of the suspension, indefinite. It was clear that the league wanted to see real change. And we all did. I've said this many times. Yelling at the ref or you know, getting a flagrant foul, that's just being a competitive NBA player, but when you strike someone, when you grab somebody by the throat that's different.
“Draymond is one of the smartest, most emotional people I’ve ever met. Passionate. And he’s done it. He’s figured it out. He’s been incredibly competitive. Amazing leader and mentor for his younger teammates. He’s walked the line perfectly. Gotten a couple techs for yelling at the refs. But he has not crossed that line. Nor do I expect him to.”
He did with Mills. He’ll continue to cross if he’s allowed to keep playing. At least Kerr said Green should have been ejected in Orlando, but when asked if it clouded the problem, he quickly said, “No.”
Curry was closer to the point. “We need him. He knows that. We all know that, so whatever it takes to keep him on the floor, for him to be available, that’s what’s got to happen, especially at this time of year,” he said. “I’ve talked to him plenty of times about it, even tonight, and I’ll continue to talk to him as a teammate and a friend.”
Grabbing Mills by the throat, after headlocking Gobert and slugging Nurkic, sounds like a man who needs much more than a counselor. If Green attempts those actions in public, he heads to jail. In fact, with James and the Lakers set for the postseason, the Warriors should settle down and move on with life. Klay Thompson should consider his next team. Curry might give more thoughts, after a few years with Jonathan Kuminga, about becoming a politician. Four championships since 2015 worked as a dynasty.
Now it’s time for Draymond Green to die nasty.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.