Nov 27, 2023, 1:50 PM ET
The Warriors’ Draymond Green spoke to reporters for the first time since being suspended for five games and has no regrets about the incident: “I don’t live my life with regrets.”
SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green has no regrets about the actions that earned him a five-game suspension. Putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock on Nov. 14 was pure defense of Golden State Warriors teammate Klay Thompson, he said Sunday.
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“I don’t live my life with regrets,” Green said after practice, the first time he has spoken to reporters since his suspension. “I will come to the defense of a teammate any time I am in a position to defend a teammate… What matters to me is, first and foremost, how the people I care about feel. What are the people like? How are the people I care about affected? What do they have to deal with? That’s it for me.”
Just 100 seconds into the Nov. 14 game, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Thompson tied up in transition, with Thompson holding McDaniels’ jersey as he waited for a long rebound. They refused to let go and began turning and pushing each other, causing McDaniels to rip Thompson’s shirt and Thompson swinging his arm at McDaniels.
As other players ran toward the two, Gobert put his arms around Thompson to separate him from McDaniels, at which point Green put Gobert in a headlock and pushed him back for several seconds.
Green and Gobert share a rich and rich history. But Green did not say Sunday whether his past interactions influenced his actions that night.
“Things can be interpreted however people want to interpret them,” he said. “I’m not here to judge people’s interpretations or try to change them. They are what they are. I know for me, I will always be there for my teammates. That is what I am. That’s who I am as a player. Teammate, that’s who I am as a friend… Good, bad or indifferent, look next to you and I’ll be there, or even in front of you.”
After the NBA announced Green’s suspension, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Green’s actions were “inexcusable” and that the organization would have to find the best ways to support Green moving forward.
Green did not elaborate on the private conversations he had with Kerr or general manager Mike Dunleavy, but he offered a small insight into the team’s feelings on the matter.
“The consensus among all of us is that it’s going to be me no matter what. That’s not going to change,” Green said. “But in saying that, there is always a better way to do something. So it’s about finding a better way. That is the consensus among all of us.”
NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars had said in a statement announcing Green’s suspension that his history of unsportsmanlike conduct played a role in the length of the suspension.
“To continue saying, ‘Oh, well, he did this in the past,’ I paid for it,” Green said. “I was suspended in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. “They can’t continue suspending me for those actions.”
Green said the question repeatedly asked after these incidents is: “Am I learning a lesson from this?” What often comes to mind is his team’s need for him to be on the court.
This time, Green’s return will come at a dire time, when the Warriors visit the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. The Warriors have lost eight of their last 11 games, four of those losses without Green.
The three main issues Green has seen are spacing, defense and turnovers — he said he knows it will help with the first two issues, and with the other, he hopes it doesn’t get worse.
There are hopes that Green’s presence on the court will have an immediate impact. But in reality, it won’t miraculously solve everything.
“Where I can help the most is requiring everyone to communicate, not that I’m going to come back and say, ‘Oh, he’s the savior,'” Green said. “That doesn’t work. There are no saviors in the NBA. But what I can do is go back and hold more people accountable.”
Kerr said Green will not have any minutes restrictions heading into Tuesday’s game because, unlike when a player returns from an injury, Green has been able to work out and maintain his conditioning.
Green said he only had one full day off during his suspension and spent much of his time shooting and lifting weights. He also traveled with the team to Phoenix last week, where he played and was able to play with other teammates.
“Our defense instantly improves with Draymond; we know,” Kerr said. “So it’s really a matter of finding the right combinations within the game that are in rhythm and click. “We’re looking for the best two-way version of our team… I would say with all the absences and injuries and things, we’re still looking for that.”
Tuesday’s game will also determine whether the Warriors or Kings reach the NBA Cup quarterfinals. This will be Green’s first time playing at Golden 1 Center since Game 7 of the first round of last season’s playoffs, a series during which he was suspended for stomping on Kings center Domantas Sabonis.
“It’s going to be a lot like Game 7,” Green said. “The atmosphere, the emotion, the anguish. The feeling I hope is that it will be like a Game 7.”
2023-11-27 18:50:00
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