Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green. Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Draymond Green criticizes NBA for length of his choking suspension

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 11/26/23

Draymond Green made his first public comments about his recent suspension on Sunday, and the Golden State Warriors forward is not happy with one aspect of his punishment.

Green suggested it was unfair that the NBA is punishing him more harshly in light of his previous offenses, which was part of the reason he got a five-game suspension for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during an on-court scuffle.

The NBA had said the length of the suspension was partly because of Green’s status as a repeat offender.

Draymond Green on the league holding him to a special standard for punishment: “To continue saying, ‘oh, what he did in the past..’ I paid for those. I got suspended for Game 5 of the Finals. So you can’t keep suspending me for those actions.”

— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) November 26, 2023

Green is alluding to his suspension for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which is viewed as part of the reason the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to rally back from a 3-1 deficit.

He did admit, however, that he has no choice but to account for that going forward.

Continued: “They’ve made it clear that they are going to hold everything against me that I’ve done before. That’s OK. I need to adjust where I see fit. Where my teammates see fit, where my coaches see fit, front office sees fit."

— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) November 26, 2023

The NBA will always take previous discipline into account, whether it is Green or anyone else. This is not new, and it is odd that Green would complain about it. The point, from the league’s perspective, is that if Green is not fixing his behavior despite previous punishments, then the sanctions need to be harsher.

Green’s own coach strongly condemned the actions that led to the suspension. If that is not enough to send a message, it is not clear what will.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: