Stepping on the chest of the opponent, Draymond Green was suspended by the NBA for unsportsmanlike behavior
In the announcement made on the morning of April 19, the NBA media board announced the penalty for the act of stepping on Draymond Green's opponent.
Accordingly, the pillar of the Golden State Warriors was banned for 1 match due to unsportsmanlike behavior towards Domantas Sabonis, the ball occurred in Game 2 of the Playoffs series round 1 between the Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.
"This suspension is based in part on Draymond Green's history of repeated unsportsmanlike conduct," the NBA said in a statement.
As such, Green will not play in Game 3 of the series between Golden State and Sacramento at the Chase Center home. The current series score is 2-0, Sacramento Kings leading.
This unsightly ball happened in Game 2 when the 4th half had more than 7 minutes left. The Golden State Warriors are now on the upswing, trying to come back from a 14-point gap.
Starting from a dispute under the basket, Sacramento bigman Domantas Sabonis fell to the court and lay down near a standing position and hugged Green's ankle. It's not clear if he accidentally lost his balance or wanted to retaliate, Draymond stepped on Sabonis' chest.
The Golden State Warriors striker was then immediately sent off for a level 2 foul (flagrant-2), while Domantas Sabonis was penalized for a technical foul for hugging an opponent's leg.
“When I fell, I had a reflex to protect myself and then everything happened,” Sabonis said of the collision with Draymond Green. "I think such behavior should not exist in current basketball."
“My leg was grabbed, twice in two games and the referees just watched. Because I lost momentum, I had to put the pole down somewhere and I'm not very flexible so I couldn't get my foot far enough. That's the best I can do when one of my legs has been hugged like that," Draymond Green shared his view of the incident.
During his career playing 147 Playoffs games, Draymond Green had a total of 6 gross errors and 27 technical errors. This will be his second suspension in the postseason, the first being at the 2016 NBA Finals when Green committed enough gross fouls in a single Playoffs.
Not only did he have unsportsmanlike behavior with his opponent, but Draymond once quarreled with his teammates twice. In 2018, he was suspended internally for 1 match by the team for arguing with then-teammate Kevin Durant.
At the beginning of this season, Green was punished again by the team when he punched teammate Jordan Poole during a training session.
Without Draymond Green, difficulties will pile up for the Golden State Warriors in the Playoffs series with the Sacramento Kings. Although they will have the next two matches at home, Stephen Curry and his teammates are leading 2-0.
In the tournament's history, no team has successfully come back from a 3-0 lead in a Playoffs series. Therefore, even without Draymond Green, Golden State will have to find a way to win at Game 3, avoiding being turned into a former king in the first round.
