Draymond Green Says He Was Going to Retire But Changed His Mind After Conversation with NBA Commissioner
The Warriors star was suspended indefinitely by the league after hitting another player in the face during a game in December
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After being handed down a suspension by the league for hitting another player last month, Draymond Green was ready to retire from basketball.
But the 33-year-old Golden State Warriors star said he changed his mind after talking with a seemingly unlikely ally.
“I had a conversation with Adam Silver, commissioner of our league,” Green said on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show. “I just told him, ‘Adam, it’s too much for me, like, this is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me, and I’m going to retire.’ ”
Silver, however, pushed back on Green’s knee-jerk reaction.
“Adam said, ‘Ahhhh, you’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that,’ ” the four-time NBA champion recalled.
The veteran forward said he was encouraged to see that the commissioner wanted him to work through the issue — instead of ending his 11-season career with the Warriors.
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“You know, we had a long, great conversation, very helpful to me,” Green said. “Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam, who’s more about helping you than hurting you, or helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
Green was indefinitely suspended after striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić during a game on Dec. 12. The physical interaction led to his third ejection of the season.
The NBA said in a statement at the time that “this outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
Related: NBA Says Draymond Green's 'History of Unsportsmanlike Acts' Lead to Game Suspension
The league mandated that Green would be “required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play."
The Michigan State alum has earned a reputation for being one of the league’s most physical players after several high-profile incidents over the years.
During the playoffs last season, the Warriors star was suspended for stomping on Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis’ chest after he fell to the ground. And prior to last season, Green’s behavior was the talk of the NBA after video leaked from a Warriors practice in which he sucker punched teammate Jordan Poole in the face during an argument.
After missing 12 games for his latest fracas, Green was reinstated by the league over the weekend, and returned to the team.
He's set to be evaluated by the team’s coaches in terms of his conditioning, and could soon return to the court, according to the NBA.
“He’s here, he looks good, he’s excited to be here,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before Sunday’s game. “We just had our walkthrough, so he took part in the walkthrough. Good to have him back.”
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