Source: Christian Petersen / Getty
More light has finally been shed on Golden State Warriors enforcer Draymond Green’s punishment for his WWE antics on the court.
According to The Athletic‘s NBA Insider Sham Charania, Green has entered a counseling program and is expected to be benched from the league for at least three weeks while he works out his issues.
Three weeks adds up to about 12 more missed games, and Charania’s sources wouldn’t explicitly specify the details of his counseling out of respect for his privacy.
His latest suspension stems from last Tuesday when he hit Jusuf Nurkic during a game against the Phoenix Suns. Nurkic fell to the floor, and the four-time NBA champion was promptly thrown out of the game.
The general consensus around the league has been less about anger and more out of serious concern for Green’s behavior, hoping he gets the help he needs in order to stop his streak of violence on the court.
Because it wasn’t so much a punishment, NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars made sure he didn’t attach a number of games to his suspension because it’s not something that can be solved that easily.
“Indefinite means get yourself right. We want to see you at your best, and the best way for you to do that is to get yourself mentally and emotionally back to where you need to be,” Dumars said on ESPN’s First Take.
Out of seemingly genuine concern, Nurkic said, “I feel like that brother needs help.”
Even Kevin Durant –who’s infamously had a testy relationship with Draymond that sent a season off track– was shocked by his actions, telling the media, “That was insane to see…I hope Draymond gets the help he needs. It’s been incident after incident.
However, the severity of his forced break away from basketball is because of his contact violent acts.
Less than a month before the Nurkic incident, he was given a technical for yelling at a referee and days later choked out Rudy Gobert, who was trying to play peacemaker amid a Klay Thompson scuffle.
