Warriors star Draymond Green suspended indefinitely by NBA after punching opponent in face

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face and received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection

Janie McCauley
Thursday 14 December 2023 09:15 EST
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Warriors’ Draymond Green Suspended Indefinitely by NBA

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Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face and received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection.

The league announced the penalty handed down by operations chief Joe Dumar and said the suspension begins immediately.

“He will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play,” the league said.

Green, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Green's agent, Rich Paul, are expected to meet Thursday to start discussing a path of counseling and assistance for Green to move forward, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The league didn't want to put a specific number on the suspension but wants to allow Green the time he needs to deal with the challenges he's facing.

Green will incur a fine of $153,941 per game if his suspension is fewer than 20 games, but that figure rises to $202,922 per game if the punishment exceeds 20 games.

Green has been ejected three times this season, tied for his most in a season. His previous ejections involved two technical fouls against the Cleveland Cavaliers and putting Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert in a headlock.

The latter incident saw the NBA suspend Green for five games.

"I am not one to apologize for things I mean to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn't intend to hit him," Green said. "I sell calls with my arms ... so I was selling the call ... and I swung and unfortunately I hit him."

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