Draymond Green banned for 5 games for strangling T-Wolves’ Rudy Gobert

Draymond Green, the star forward for the Golden State Warriors, has been suspended for five games due to his behavior during the team’s Tuesday in-season tournament match against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Timberwolves players Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels, along with Klay Thompson, the teammate of the Warriors, were all fined $25,000 for their parts in the altercation.

The news was first broken by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who also mentioned that Green’s suspension extended to the team’s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in an in-season tournament.

Before a point was scored in the first quarter, Thompson and McDaniels got into a figҺt, which forced Minnesota center Rudy Gobert to intervene and break them up. Green grabbed Gobert from behind and put his arm around his neck, seemingly in an attempt to protect Thompson.

Green kept Gobert in the headlock for a long while before releasing him; as a result, he, Thompson, and McDaniels were all removed from the match. The Warriors lost the next game, 104-101, their fourth defeat in a row.

Following the game, Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Warriors, stated that he thought Green was just standing up for his colleague.

Klay never ought to have been removed. That was absurd,” remarked Kerr. “I took offense at that. Regarding the Draymond portion of it, Rudy was holding Klay’s throat. This is the reason Draymond pursued Rudy.”

Green was kicked out of Golden State’s 118-110 loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 11 after collecting a second technical penalty for shoving Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell. This was his second ejection from a game this season.

Green, who is well-known for having a fiery attitude, gives the Warriors a level of passion and energy that none other can match. He went too far, though, in his cоnfrоntatiоn with the Timberwolves.

Golden State will have a difficult time replacing Green’s output while he is suspended. Even though his statistics of 8.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists seem low, his defensive skills and intangibles make him practically unreplaceable.

The Warriors will have to rely on players like Dario Šarić and Jonathan Kuminga to try to cover Green’s role in the frontcourt without him in the starting lineup. Although it is understandable that Golden State does not want to start the season poorly, Green’s absence will make it more difficult for the team to compete in the Western Conference.