Right after Tuesday’s game, when Draymond Green was ejected for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold and dragging him, Warriors coach Steve Kerr stuck up for Green saying he was getting Gobert off Klay Thompson.
With a couple of days to review the film, Kerr changed his tune, speaking before the Warriors took on the Thunder Thursday night.
Steve Kerr says Draymond "took it too far" and that his five-game suspension was deserved pic.twitter.com/4Yp7Dgk2vj
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 17, 2023
“He definitely took it too far. I didn’t have a problem with him getting Rudy off of Klay because the rule of thumb is you don’t put your hands on another player on the other team… But he’s got to let go. He hung on for six, seven seconds, and it was a terrible visual for the league, for Draymond, for everybody. So Draymond was wrong. He knows that. It’s a bad look. The five games is deserved, and we move forward.”
Kerr added later:
“The line was perfectly in view the other night. He crossed the line as soon as he grabbed Rudy by the neck. That crossed the line.
“The line is when you’re not going to be there the next five games for your teammates at a time when they need you. Understanding the repercussions of the actions, understanding the impact on the team, understanding the visual. … I know Draymond and he’s a wonderful human being. He’s filled with passion and love and respect for his teammates. But that is a bad look. That’s a bad look. He knows that and he’s embarrassed by that. So that’s the line. That’s where the line is.”
Draymond Green had Rudy Gobert in a sleeper hold pic.twitter.com/yivvAds10c
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 15, 2023
In a statement accompanying the suspension announcement, the NBA said Green was given five games for “escalating an on-court altercation and forcibly grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert around the neck in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner...
“The length of the suspension is based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
Thursday was the first night of that suspension and the Warriors — without Green or Stephen Curry (knee soreness, he will be re-evaluated before the team’s next game) — the Warriors fell to the Thunder, 128-109. That’s five straight losses for Golden State, who started the season 6-2 but are now below .500. Next up for the Warriors are these same Thunder on Saturday night, with Curry’s status up in the air.
Green will remain out past Thanksgiving until Nov. 28, when the Warriors take on the Kings.
