Earlier today, the league decided not to suspend Golden State Warriors’ star Draymond Green for kicking Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin.
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Though Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement that Green’s actions were “unnecessary and excessive and warranted the upgrade and fine”, he seemed to agree with Green’s explanation that he was exaggerating his shooting motion.
Golden State Warriors’ forward Draymond Green should have been suspended for kicking Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin.
“They’re not going to suspend Draymond Green”.
Both teams were forced to strategize for Game 4 without knowing whether Green, who finished seventh in this year’s National Basketball Association most valuable player voting, would be on the court.
Green was spectacular during the regular season, averaging 14 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game, and the Warriors need him to turn the corner in order to have a chance in the series.
“Honestly, I think it’s intentional”, Adams’s teammate Russell Westbrook added.
Green was called for a flagrant 1 foul and Adams later noted that Green had kneed him in the same spot during Game 2. It was frustrating that I couldnt get it going..
And while I’m glad he didn’t get suspended (I want to see both teams play at full strength) he should have been.
Furthermore, the Warriors may well wind up regretting that VanDeWeghe didn’t suspend Green when all this is said and done.
For a second straight game, Green wasn’t himself. “When things aren’t looking great, he usually plays his best”.
The NBA fined him $25,000 and now it’s time to move on and hope something like this doesn’t happen again, but Green can nearly assuredly be waiting for some kind of retaliation.
“That’s what was frustrating to me”, he said. And again, I acknowledge, it was a close call. “He just didn’t happen to catch me where I caught Steven Adams at, so no – I’m not bracing for the worst”. “I guess”, Kerr said. “I think individually we’re so competitive in that moment that we wanted to do something about it, we didn’t allow ourselves to work together”.
“He’s mentally strong, so nothing that happened last night is going to affect Game 4 except light a fire probably”, Curry said. “If I come punch you in your head, I probably did that on objective because I’m going to intentionally use my arm”, Green said Monday.
That guy was no more present for Game 4 than he was for Game 3.
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As for whether Adams actually lives in fear of further damage, he made it awfully clear with reporters prior to the league’s ruling that his confidence won’t waver with or without Green’s legs available for Game 4.
