Moritz Wagner recently told the story. In the podcast of his NBA club Orlando Magic, he remembered his first encounter with Draymond Green and Kevin Durant against the Golden State Warriors. As a rookie in the league, Wagner had a little too much cockiness when he was fouled on a throw. “You can’t stop me,” he shouted, not knowing who was behind him. Green and Durant, two veterans of cultivated trash talk, then gave him such a volley of sayings that the German missed the free throws.
Anyone who takes on the ultimate basketball bad boy Green, 33, can be happy if it’s just words, because the list of more tangible interventions is extensive. Similar to Dennis Rodman, the provocateur who liked to get under the skin of his opponents, Green is feared as a man for rough things. But now the league is taking action: After an attack on Jusuf Nurkic from the Phoenix Suns, the Warriors winger received an indefinite ban.
Green hit Nurkic in the face with full force after a scuffle at the basket on Tuesday and was thrown off the court for the 19th time in his 11-year NBA career. “The guy really needs help, I’m glad he didn’t strangle me,” Nurkic said later. Green explained that he did not act on purpose – The TV images are still not suitable for anti-aggression training. The problem for the four-time NBA champion and multiple all-star: He is considered a repeat offender after a collection of similar offenses.
Green will lose between $150,000 and $200,000 of his salary for each game he misses
He recently put Minnesota’s giant Rudy Gobert in a headlock with a chokehold, he had previously (among other things) beat LeBron James in three different games, kicked Steven Adams into the male ouch zone twice, punched James Harden in his beard and stuck his foot in his face, did a wrestling number with Anthony Davis on the floor, Davis elbowed Bertans in the nose swinging as well as in training attacked his teammate Jordan Poole.
That’s why the punishment is drastic: Green is out until he undergoes therapeutic treatment, reflects on his behavior and promises to refrain from his “dirty plays”. “He can only return if he agrees to certain rules of the game,” the NBA said in its statement. A meeting between the player, his agent and club boss Mike Dunleavy Jr. is scheduled to take place on Thursday to discuss what kind of pause could curb Green’s temper. Observers assume that he could watch ten to 20 games – and that will be expensive: He will lose between $150,000 and $200,000 of his salary for each game he misses.
His struggling team actually needs Green as a defensive hard worker, as his coach Steve Kerr explained: “He knows that too, we’ve discussed it with him. He has to find ways to pull himself together.” And Green himself? Shows little insight. For him, the action against Nurkic was only about pinning a foul on the opponent. Well then.