Stephen A. Smith Issues Major Warning To Draymond Green: ‘Be Careful’

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith feels the rest of the NBA is coming at Green in order to entice him to get involved in another dirty act, and he had a message for the Warriors leader.

“When you hear Nurkic say what he said during his post-game press conference,” Smith said. “He hasn’t learned anything. He’s gonna do it again. I take back everything I said about second chances. I want Draymond to be careful. Only because other players are going to assist in creating or elevating that narrative that has plagued him. You can compete. You can get after it. But at the same time, be very careful. Because, the second any kind of slip-up happens again, the hammer will come down.”

Green has actually been suspended twice already this season — once for his hit on Nurkic and once prior to that, when he put Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. In last year’s players, he stomped on Sacramento Kings star big man Domantas Sabonis, which resulted in a one-game suspension.

His most infamous suspension came during the 2016 NBA Finals when he hit LeBron James below the belt and was forced to miss Game 5. Golden State led the series 3-1 and had Game 5 at home, which it lost, and it went on to lose the series in seven games. Many still feel had it not been for that suspension, the team would’ve won that world championship.

The Warriors are now on a five-game winning streak and have risen to 10th place in the Western Conference, and their offense is starting to hum. If Green is on his best behavior, he could make them a team no one would want to face in the playoffs, so long as they do make it there.