Warriors’ Draymond Green ejected for hitting Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic in the head

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. 

“This one checks all the boxes,” Kane Fitzgerald, the NBA’s VP of Referee Operations said on the broadcast. “You have windup, impact and follow-through above the shoulders to the face there with that open-hand swing and slap to the head. Clearly unnecessary and excessive. They got all the officials to look at it, all three have to agree for an ejection, and a flagrant foul penalty 2 was indicated.”