Draymond Green ejection: Warriors star tossed for hitting Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic, who says Green ‘needs help’

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was ejected from the team’s game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night for swinging his arm and hitting center Jusuf Nurkic in the face. Green was assessed a Flagrant 2, which is an automatic ejection. Just a few minutes into the third quarter, Green and Nurkic were battling for position when Green suddenly swung around and clocked him in the side of the head. 

The 7-foot big man crumpled to the ground and the refs immediately motioned for a review. After a fairly quick trip to the monitor, Green’s night was over. 

“[Nurkic] was pulling my hip, and I was swinging away to sell the call and made contact with him,” Green said. “As you know, I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf. I didn’t intend to hit him… A replay is never gonna look good, but I know my intentions, and my intentions were to sell the call. I also don’t think I’m an accurate enough puncher to do a full 360 and connect with someone. It’s unfortunate.” 

A frustrated Steve Kerr reiterated the need for Green to maintain his composure. 

“We need him,” Kerr said. “We need Draymond. But he knows that, we’ve talked to him. He’s got to find a way to keep his poise and be out there for his teammates… if we’re gonna be a really good team, we need him.”

Meanwhile, Nurkic was less enthusiastic about the situation. “What’s going on with him?” Nurkic remarked. “I don’t know. Personally, I feel like that brother needs help. I’m glad he didn’t try to choke me. At the same time, it ain’t nothing to do with basketball.”

This was the 19th career ejection for Green, which is the most among active players, and his third of the season already. On Nov. 11 he was tossed after picking up two technical fouls in the Warriors’ loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His second technical foul of the night — the one that led to his ejection — came after he shoved Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell out of bounds, leading to an altercation between the two on the other side of the court. Upon further review, Green was handed his second tech and an early trip to the locker room. 

Just a few days later, on Nov. 15, he decided to put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold a few minutes into the Warriors’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was promptly ejected from that game and was later assessed a five-game suspension for the incident.

When his suspension was announced by the NBA on Nov. 15, the league noted that the length was “based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.” Green later took umbrage with the league’s decision to hold him a higher standard with regard to punishment. He told reporters on Nov. 26, his first day back following his suspension, “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.” 

Green added, “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.”

It’s likely that he will face further punishment from the league for his actions towards Nurkic, especially given his previous history of antics, both this season and in the past. Asked about the possibility of another suspension, Green said, “I don’t know. We’ll see. I know what my intentions were, and that’s really all I can speak on.”

Through 15 games, Green is averaging 10.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. With Green ejected, the Warriors went on to lose 119-116 to fall to 10-13 on the season.