It came late at night, not during the day. An announcement from the NBA was going to change the complexion of the first round series between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.
Now what was it? Draymond Green got suspended for game three for his actions on Monday night. Now one might wonder how is that possible? Joe Dumars Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations of the NBA said “the suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
This tweet says it all right here
The fact that the league literally wrote that this was based on history rather than the present makes it even worse.
You’re going to affect a series based on prior years???
Just a terrible precedent.— Mark Willard (@Mark_T_Willard) April 19, 2023
For the NBA it has to answer the question what unsportsmanlike acts did Green have in the playoff this season? Answer is zero until Domantas Sabonis grabbed his ankle and twisted it. Yet Dumars completely ignored that fact along with the inexcusable attempt prior at the Kings power forward trying to drag Klay Thompson down which is why he found himself off-balance to begin with.
Even more hilarious is who Dumars was teammates with. Some of the dirtiest players to ever play in the NBA. Yet he comes up to this ridiculous conclusions based on previous years acts by Green. How did the league even accept this as precedent?
Now if the league wanted to send a message about dangerous plays. There were several recently during the playoffs that caused injuries to Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, yet nothing has been announced by the NBA regarding that either.
Beyond Willard’s reaction here are some other tweets regarding the suspension to Green.
I’d have bet a fine was coming
— Marcus Thompson II (@ThompsonScribe) April 19, 2023
Well the other guy should have at least been fined. If he hadn’t grabbed Draymond’s leg, he probably wouldn’t have gotten stepped on.
Warriors’ Draymond Green suspended for Game 3 after Game 2 altercation https://t.co/O5I4zl4xhv
— Mary B ⚾️🐘🤱🇺🇸 🇺🇦🐈☕ (@zukeferd) April 19, 2023
Nobody would have blinked if they called a double technical and kept playing ball.
To see it snowball into an ejection and a suspension is pathetic. The NBA is weak AF.
— Danny G (@DannyG_49) April 19, 2023
As a Kings fan, I don’t believe it was warranted for Draymond Green to be suspended. I believe what the refs called at that moment was correct and nothing else, besides a possible fine, was in order. Now the Kings have to use his absence to their advantage in Game 3.
— Dilraj Grewal (@DilrajG24) April 19, 2023
A suspension is crazy . 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/8aNWJvarKT
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 19, 2023
Also, there is no precedent to this suspension. Dumars creating one of his own is a horrible look along with when the announcement was made and prior to his role with the NBA, he worked for the Kings organization. Which makes it look like a conflict of interest as well.