Draymond Green had thoughts about retirement until NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked him out of it, according to the “The Draymond Green Show”.
After having a rough start to the season, Green has received multiple suspensions and ejections. His first suspension started at the beginning of the Golden State Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game.
During the start of the game, both teams were going back and forth on both sides of the court. Ultimately, Green put Rudy Gobert, the Minnesota Timberwolves center, into a headlock. As a result, he was immediately ejected and received a five-game suspension followed.
However, Green did not learn his lesson after the first suspension. He went on to slap Jusurf Nurki, a Phoenix Suns center, last month. Green received a flagrant 2 foul and an ejection, followed by an indefinite suspension.
On December 13, Joe Durmas, Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations, announced that Draymond was suspended indefinitely.
Draymond Green spoke about the possibility of retirement
On “The Draymond Green Show”, Green mentions his conversation with Silver, following the physical incident with Nurki. The power forward for the Golden State Warriors stated that he was going to leave the NBA until Silver convinced him to stay.
“I told him, ‘Adam, this is too much for me. … This is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire.’ And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.'”
Green then expressed gratitude towards Silver for being committed to the players.
“We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you, helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
The suspension was for 12 games
Because of his suspension, Green has missed 13 of the Golden State Warriors’ last games, He was suspended for 12 of them.
Meanwhile, on December 7, Green’s suspension was lifted for the Golden State Warriors vs. the Toronto Raptors. However, Green was not played by head coach Steve Kerr. The team ended up losing to the Raptors, with the final score being 118-133.
During his 12-game suspension, Green went to therapy to work on his self-control.
On Wednesday, the Golden State Warriors play against the New Orleans Pelicans. It’s unclear if Green will be back in action tonight, but it’s safe to say he’s the missing piece to the Warriors’ smooth-flowing offense.