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The NBA is back: Draymond Green is kicking again! (Video)

Draymond Green suits up. (Getty Images)
Draymond Green suits up. (Getty Images)

The leaves are changing color, the days are getting shorter, and sometimes you can see your breath in the breeze as you toss up one final shot in the too-cold driveway air. Basketball season is back.

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The signs abound: Charles Barkley is a ubiquitous but much-loved menace on the media circuit, Major League Baseball is down to two teams, and everyone seems to be readying their season previews for the 2016-17 NBA season.

Even more telling? Draymond Green is starting to kick again. As he did on Friday night in his teams (thankful) final exhibition season game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Stuck in the third week of October, Allen Crabbe got a taste of what playoff basketball is all about (via Pro Basketball Talk):

Draymond, as you’re well aware, has a history with this.

While he whiffed on connecting with Crabbe’s wedding tackle, he has made himself more than familiar with Steven Adams’ gentlemen’s vegetables on a pair of occasions, while most notably taking a swipe at LeBron James’ love token during the 2016 NBA Finals. Green was suspended for that retaliatory shot, and partially due to his absence in Game 5 the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals as a result.

As of this writing, neither punishment nor warning has come from the league office regarding Green’s follow-through in the face of Crabbe. Even if this is a natural extension of how the undersized power forward emerges from his core position, Draymond is going to have to find a way not to (literally) lash out as the season moves onward.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!