Getty Jusuf Nurkic #20 of the Phoenix Suns lays on the court after being fouled by Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors.
Suspended Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green will be out for at least the next three weeks, The Athletic’s Shams Charania revealed on Monday, December 18.
Green, suspended indefinitely on Wednesday, December 13, after striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face, has already started the process of an eventual return. The temperamental big man is now undergoing counseling, according to Charania.
“League sources said Green, 33, was expected to receive counseling and work with the Warriors and NBA while suspended. People around Green and the organization said the four-time NBA champion has been understanding and prepared to undergo the process required to return to the team in a full capacity. Those sources would not reveal the specifics of Green’s counseling out of respect for his privacy,” Charania wrote.
Even Warriors coach Steve Kerr kept the details private when reporters asked him after their 124-120 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on December 16.
“I can’t really share that,” Kerr told reporters. “That’s really private. What I can tell you is that Draymond has our full support, that Draymond is himself very much committed to creating the change that he wants to see.”
The Warriors will play 13 games in the next three weeks, including eight against teams with winning records. Concluding that 13-game stretch will be a January 15 meeting against the Memphis Grizzlies, who would have Ja Morant back by then. The Grizzlies star, suspended for 25 games, is set to return on December 19 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Green is set to lose $154,000 per game if the suspension is fewer than 20 games, and $203,000 if more than 20, according to ESPN.
Draymond Green Has to Change
For Kerr, Green’s latest ejection — his third for the season and 20th in his career — should serve as an opportunity for the mercurial All-Star to step back and change his approach in life.
“This is about someone I believe in, someone I’ve known for a decade, someone who I love for his loyalty, his commitment, his passion, his love for his teammates, friends, his family,” Kerr said after a 121-113 loss to the L.A.Clippers on December 14.
“Trying to help that guy because the one who grabbed Rudy, choked Rudy, the one who took a wild flail at Jusuf, the one who punched Jordan (Poole) last year, that’s the guy who has to change and he knows that.”
Green is on the first season of a four-year, $100 million extension he signed last summer.
Stephen Curry’s Message to Draymond Green
Warriors superstar Stephen Curry held Green accountable while showing compassion to his downtrodden friend and teammate.
“The conversations [on Wednesday] were about acknowledging he can’t do what he’s been doing,” Curry told reporters after the Warriors fell to the Clippers. “He knows that. We know that everybody knows that.”
“What that means is to change. I think that’s the search for the answer, right? That’s the journey that we’re on now.”
Curry is confident Green will return a better man.
“I’m here as a friend and a support to kind of lean in on being there for whatever that means,” Curry said. “It was a conversation for us as a team to understand where we currently are, where we’re trying to go, and hold each other accountable and Draymond accountable to what’s been going on and what needs to change for us to be right as a team.”