Last month, Draymond Green was once again ejected from the court. Just a couple of weeks after serving a five-game suspension for a headlock on Rudy Gobert, the Golden State Warriors star delivered a punch to Suns big man, Jusuf Nurkić’s face.
After the incident, the NBA announced that Green has been suspended indefinitely. The NBA announced the penalty handed down by chief of operations, Joe Dumars, while also revealing that Green needs to fulfill some terms and requirements, before he’ll get reinstated.
Last Saturday, the NBA reinstated Green, with him being expected to return on the hardwood for the Warriors game against the Bucks this Sunday. But according to Green himself, a return seemed to be in question, as the defensive star revealed that Adam Silver talked him out of retirement:
“I told him, ‘Adam this is too much for me. … This is too much,” Green said on his podcast. “It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire.’ And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.’
We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
During his press conference with International media before the Cleveland Cavaliers vs Brooklyn Nets game in Paris on Thursday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was asked to share a little bit about the conversation with Draymond Green from his side. While Silver said that he won’t publicly detail a private conversation, he also said that had Draymond given an incorrect statement, he could have spoken up:
“In terms of Draymond, at the time we were having those conversations, certainly from my standpoint, they’re private. That’s his right if he chooses to make them public. There was certainly no agreement we had that everything was private. But I’ll leave it to him to comment on what we discussed. I certainly would be speaking up if he were saying something that wasn’t consistent with our discussions.
I would just conclude by saying I’m pleased he’s close to being back, and my sense is that he used his time away from the floor very productively.”
Silver on Green’s retirement statement:
“At the time we were having those conversations, from my standpoint, they’re private. That’s his right if he chooses to make them public… I certainly would be speaking up if he said something that wasn’t consistent w/ our discussions. pic.twitter.com/BmOLcuBY7l— Len Werle (@RealLennyCarlos) January 13, 2024
