Warriors should be exasperated with Draymond Green's behavior
Over the summer, the Golden State Warriors signed a deserving Draymond Green to a four-year, $100 million contract extension. He was coming off a good season, finishing fourth in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting and averaging his most points (8.5) since 2017-18.
This season, Green is averaging 9.7 points and shooting a career-high 42.9 percent from three.
His antics on the court, however, have far overshadowed his solid play, leaving his future with the team in question.
After roughly a quarter of the season, Green has already been ejected from games three times. In November, the league suspended him five contests for putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. On Wednesday, the league suspended him indefinitely for smacking Phoenix Suns big man Jusuf Nurkic in the face.
This season, Golden State is 2-6 in games in which Green was either ejected or serving a suspension. The Warriors should be exasperated with his behavior. By giving him an indefinite suspension, the NBA apparently already is.
"The league didn't want to put a specific number on the suspension, but allow Green to take the time he might need to deal with challenges he's facing," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski explained Wednesday.
"'Indefinite' means get yourself right," NBA executive VP and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars said of the suspension on Thursday's episode of "First Take" on ESPN.
Green too often has lost physical and emotional control while playing basketball. In previous seasons, such actions galvanized the team and served as a source of energy. He's a huge distraction now for a middling team (10-13) that's 11th in the Western Conference heading into Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
At 33 years old and set in his ways, Green isn't likely to change. And with a league-leading luxury tax bill of $192 million, Golden State owner Joe Lacob shouldn't be a passive observer.
"Is this the end for Draymond in Golden State?" Stephen A. Smith asked Thursday on ESPN's "Get Up!" "If the Golden State Warriors were to move on from him, especially at the particular time, who would blame them?"
For the Warriors, it may indeed be time to move on from the league's most polarizing player.
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