'Insane to see': Kevin Durant addresses Draymond Green hitting Jusuf Nurkic, NBA's indefinite suspension

Phoenix Suns big Jusuf Nurkic hasn’t changed his tune about Draymond Green, even after taking a hit to the face from him in the second half of Tuesday’s home win over the Warriors.

“I have a lot of respect for him, obviously, even before this,” Nurkic said before Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at Footprint Center. “I still have it. I don’t know what people go through. It’s not our problem, but he’s an NBA champion for me, Hall of Famer still.”

The NBA has suspended Green indefinitely for “striking” Nurkic in the face, the league announced Wednesday evening.

“I feel like they’ll do what’s best for the league and for him,” Nurkic said.

Green’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” was taken into consideration when determining his punishment. Green served a five-game suspension this season for “escalating” an in-game incident between the Warriors and Timberwolves by choking T-Wolves center Rudy Gobert.

“It’s kind of sad to see people going in a bad direction,” Nurkic said. “I want him to succeed and still be the Draymond we all know. I have no bad feelings or any hate towards him.”

Suns superstar Kevin Durant addressed the incident and suspension of his former Warriors teammate after Wednesday's loss to Brooklyn at Footprint Center.

"That was insane to see," Durant said. "Glad Nurk is alright. Never seen anything like that before on the basketball court in an NBA game. I hope Draymond gets the help that he needs. Been incident after incident. I know Draymond and he hasn't been that way when I was around him and coming into the league. Hopefully he gets the help he needs and get back on the court and put all this stuff behind him."

Nurkic was guarding Green in the post area when Green turned and struck him in the face with his right shooting hand with 8:23 left in the third quarter. The 7-footer Nurkic immediately fell to the floor and stayed there for a few moments.

“What's going on with him, I don't know,” Nurkic said after Tuesday’s game “Personally, I feel like that brother needed help. I'm glad he didn't try to choke me.”

During that time, Chimezie Metu and Green exchanged words right in front of Golden State’s bench where Nurkic lay flat face down.

“I'm going to try not to say too much to get me in trouble, but it's ridiculous at this point,” Metu said after Tuesday’s game. “It's ridiculous.”

Green apologized to Nurkic after the game, saying Nurkic was grabbing at his hip and he was trying to sell a foul call in his reaction.

“As you know, I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” Green said after Tuesday’s game. “I sell calls with my arms.”

Nurkic explained why he didn’t react to Green’s hitting him in the face.

“I learned in this league when you respond to some stuff like that, you're getting fined,” he said “... I'm too valuable for this team to get in foul trouble or getting techs or getting kicked out."

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant addresses Draymond Green hitting Jusuf Nurkic, indefinite suspension