The NBA announced this Saturday the end of the indefinite suspension of Draymond Green, who has missed 12 games with his Golden State Warriors as punishment for the attack on Jusuf Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns.
“During the period of his suspension, which began on December 14 and has caused him to miss 12 games, Green has completed steps that demonstrate his commitment to aligning his conduct with the standards expected of NBA players,” the league said in a statement.
Specifically, Green has been separated from the team and has had to comply with “conditions” that have consisted of maintaining regular meetings with a therapist and with representatives of the NBA, the Warriors and the players’ union (NBPA). These meetings “will continue throughout the season,” the NBA said.
In their 12 games of absence, the Warriors have won 7 and lost 5. In the table they are tenth in the Western Conference, with a balance of 18-17.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr referred this Thursday to the suspension of one of his starters. “This wasn’t a sprained ankle, it wasn’t a sprained knee. This is an issue that Draymond is trying to get help with. So space was important to him and to us,” he said.
This Sunday the Warriors have a game against the Toronto Raptors, and although Green will already be with the team, according to ESPN it is expected that it will take him another week to be ready to play.
Green was ejected on December 12 for slapping Nurkic in the face in the game between the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors.
With 8.23 ??in the third quarter, the Warriors center was fighting to gain position in front of the Suns interior when he turned around and hit Nurkic in the face, who ended up on the ground. The referees reviewed what happened and called a type 2 flagrant, so Green went to the shower early.
Green, essential in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson’s Warriors but who has a long history of very controversial and controversial actions, had already been expelled twice this season.
The most serious of them was in mid-November when he grabbed Rudy Gobert by the neck with a key in a fight in the duel against the Minnesota Timberwolves, an expulsion for which he also received a five-game ban from the NBA.
