NBA's concern for Draymond is key to indefinite suspension
NBA's concern for Draymond is key to indefinite suspension originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
One week after Draymond Green smacked Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face and six days since the NBA announced the Warriors star was suspended indefinitely, there still is speculation about details and length of his absence.
As if those matters are most pertinent when at this stage of Green’s career – and life – they are not. Draymond understands this now, which is why has accepted professional counseling.
What’s most important is not that Green is sentenced to be away for a specific number of games but that he takes the time to address issues behind increasingly frequent acts of violence.
It has become abundantly clear since the suspension was announced that the NBA and the Warriors reached a breaking point. They finally realize attempts to curb Green’s outbursts should focus not on punishment but on treatment.
That much was reemphasized Monday when Joe Dumars, who as chief executive in charge of basketball operations serves as the NBA’s sheriff, said the terms of suspension are indefinite because that allows time for Green to receive guidance from individuals better equipped to offer support.
“I don’t think that dealing with player issues [has] to simply be punitive,” Dumars told The Athletic. “I don’t believe that. I think there’s also an obligation to help these young guys get better in maturing and how to deal with things. So often, we just say he should be suspended for the rest of the year or he should be suspended for — OK.
“We have to administer punishment. But I also believe that we can’t discard these guys either. These are human beings. And if we can administer the punishment and help at the same time, then we should try to do that. And I think that’s what you see here and what we’re trying to do right now as opposed to just suspend them and send them away and then that’s it. That’s just not what we’re trying to do here.”
This statement from Dumars, whose relationship with Green goes back almost 20 years, echoes much of what has been said by Warriors coach Steve Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy.
“Obviously, [everyone] wants definite answers and length and all that stuff,” Dunleavy said last week. “But what’s best for us and for Draymond and everybody is that we help him with the appropriate amount of assistance. And then we judge and base it on his comeback, dependent on when the right time is.
Noting that Green clobbered Nurkić two weeks after returning from a five-game suspension issued after wrapping his arm around the neck of Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, Kerr also believes Green could better benefit from a more constructive approach.
“The suspension makes sense,” Kerr said. “This is about more than basketball. It’s about helping Draymond. It’s an opportunity for Draymond to step away and to make a change in his approach, in his life. And that’s not an easy thing to do.
“That’s not something you say, ‘OK. We’re going to do five games. And then he’s going to be fine.’ The league did that, did five games after the incident with Rudy [Gobert]. That’s not the answer. To pick a number.”
The most encouraging development is that Green, according Dumars and the Warriors, understands he could not continue down the path he was paving.
Green punched teammate Jordan Poole during a practice in October 2022, exceeded the NBA’s technical-foul limit for the first time in his career in March 2023 and stepped on the chest of Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis in April 2023. Then came incidents involving Gobert last month and Nurkić this month.
If the league simply had issued suspensions escalating in length, from five to 10 to 15 and so on, that would have hurt the Warriors and hurt the NBA.
Moreover, there’s nothing to indicate such an approach would have helped Green.
The league’s decision to steer its response to Green’s outbursts from punitive to rehabilitative is refreshing. It’s overdue, to be sure, but a delayed attempt to get it right is better than no attempt at all. The NBA, in conjunction with the Warriors, have given Green a process to follow prior to reinstatement. The details are private, as they should be in a matter this personal. He is not expected to rejoin the Warriors before 2024.
Precisely when he returns is, again, not the priority. Time matters. People matter more.
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