By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Not again, Draymond Green.
After receiving a five-game suspension when he put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold a month ago, the National Basketball Association (NBA) slapped the power forward with another penalty after a separate incident with Jusuf Nurkic during the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns last December 13, 2023.
At the 8:23 mark of the third quarter, Green was whistled for a Flagrant Foul 2 after the referees caught him swinging his arm that hit Nurkic’s face.
After the quick action, Nurkic went down while holding his head and was slow to get up due to the impact of Green’s facial strike.
Joe Dumars, the NBA’s Executive President and the Head of Basketball Operations, then announced that Green will be suspended indefinitely.
The league and the investigatory body assessed Green’s actions and will have to meet specific rules and conditions if he wants to return to the playing court.
Green’s absence with still two quarters left hurt the Warriors as Devin Booker and the Suns went away with a thrilling 119-116 victory.
In retrospect, Green was involved in a past melee against the Minnesota Timberwolves when he choked Gobert.
With only two minutes gone in the very first quarter of the Western Conference clash, Warriors’ shooting guard Klay Thompson and Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels got into it after pulling each other’s jerseys in the middle of the court.
After the referees whistled to stop the physical altercation, Gobert came in and grabbed Thompson by bear-hugging him.
Green then noticed what Gobert did to Thompson which forced him to headlock Minnesota’s starting center while dragging him to the other side of the court.
Both Thompson and McDaniels were whistled for technical fouls and ejection while Green was slapped with a Flagrant 2 foul and also exited the game.
