Getty Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry #30 celebrate in the first half against the Houston Rockets.
The NBA has lifted Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green’s suspension, ending his ban to 12 games, Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced on January 6.
But it came with conditions that he will continue undergoing counseling and constantly meeting with representatives of the NBA, NBPA and Warriors to chart his progress.
“During the period of his suspension, which began on Dec. 14 and resulted in him missing 12 games, Green completed steps that demonstrated his commitment to conforming his conduct to standards expected of NBA players,” Dumars’ statement said.
The 33-year-old Green will rejoin the Warriors on Sunday but he will need at least one week to ramp up his conditioning for his eventual return to playing basketball, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The news is a welcome development for the Warriors, who just lost 12-time All-Star guard Chris Paul to a fractured left hand.
Paul, 38, will undergo surgery but the timetable for his return is still unknown.
Green lost $1.8 million in salaries due to his 12-game suspension for striking Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face. The Warriors saved $8.8 million in their projected luxury tax bill, according to ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks.
The Warriors went 7-5 during Green’s 12-game suspension.
Steve Kerr-Jonathan Kuminga Meeting
Warriors coach Steve Kerr and disgruntled Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga met personally after The Athletic reported that the latter has lost his faith in the latter.
“I think it went really well,” Kuminga told The Athletic. “I think it was just all about better understanding of each other. More communication. We don’t really get to sit together as much and communicate about pretty much non-basketball things, basketball things. We don’t get to do that as much. Just us having that conversation today made me more comfortable that any time I have something to ask, I should just go up to his office. His door is open. Go up there and chill and wait for him to come back whenever.
“I think that’s what it’s all about, communication every single time if something is going wrong. Communication is the key.”
The meeting resulted in Kuminga playing a season-high 36 minutes. He delivered 11 points and 6 rebounds in his 12th straight start.
The 21-year-old forward took the toughest assignment of defending former no. 1 pick Cade Cunningham. He finished with a game-high plus-16 for the Warriors, who leaned on Stephen Curry’s clutch 3-pointers to fend off the last-placed Detroit Pistons 113-109 on Friday, January 5, at Chase Center.
Steve Kerr Wishes Jonathan Kuminga’s Frustration Didn’t Go Public
While Kerr and Kuminga have smoothened things out, the Warriors coach hopes this would be the last time his players will go to the media to air their dirty laundry.
“Those things are better discussed behind the scenes,” Kerr said of the Kuminga report via The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “Any time something like that goes public, it creates a distraction.”
“I talked to our whole team about this. Got an issue? I’m here. I am the most accessible coach in the league, probably. My door is always open. I have players all the time come talk to me, and I encourage it.”
But Kerr tried to lighten the mood, joking about his frustration about his playing time during his 15-year NBA career.
“I played 15 years and all 15 I was frustrated with my playing time,” he jokingly said via The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.