Dray Away: Losing Big Green
11/16/2023
By: Jeff Yoder
Warriors’ Draymond Green Gets 5-Game Suspension (Loses $769,970) for Chokehold on Rudy Gobert
Tuesday night’s altercation between the Warriors and Timberwolves resulted in a few fines for three players involved, but one man is getting much more than he bargained for. Draymond Green received a five-game suspension for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. He’ll also be without pay during the ban, which is quite a financial hit for the four-time All-Star ($769,970). By comparison, the other three players involved — Klay Thompson, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert — received $25,000 fines. The NBA released a statement saying that Green’s past history of ‘unsportsmanlike acts’ were a factor in the severity of his punishment.
Dray’s Rap Sheet
Green has long been viewed as the Warriors’ hustle player, wreaking havoc on opponents by getting in their heads and being a pesky defender and rebounder. But that role has started to grow old for the NBA’s conduct crew. Green received a one-game suspension in last year’s playoffs (April) after stomping on Kings’ Domantas Sabonis. That was less than a month after he recorded his 16th technical foul of the season, also resulting in a one-game suspension. He was suspended on two other occasions for conduct detrimental to the team (2018) and an incident with LeBron James in the Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals (2016). Those four one-game bans were minimal, but this five-game penalty is a clear message from the league.
Read: NBA Fans Had Plenty to Say About the Length of Draymond Green’s Suspension (SI)
NBA Scores & Highlights
Mavericks def. Wizards (130-117)
*Tim Hardaway Jr. Drops 31 Off the Bench
*Jayson Tatum (29-8-6) Puts C’s On Top of East
*Damian Lillard (37 pts, 13 asts) Catches Fire for Bucks
Suns def. Timberwolves (133-115)
*Kevin Durant & Devin Booker Score 31 Points Each
*LeBron James (28-10-11) 2nd-Oldest Player With Triple-Double
Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images