"I'm not getting suspended" - Draymond Green vows to be on NBA All-Defensive team next season
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has developed a reputation for never being too far away from a suspension. This is mostly because he plays with his heart on his sleeve and never refrains from letting the opposition or the referees know what he feels during a game. While this has cost him and the team dearly in the past, it continues to be a yearly issue.
Green hosted Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show.” The Warriors forward asked the newly signed Magic guard if he and Jalen Suggs could make the best defensive backcourt in the league. As KCP spoke about their chances and how he felt like he should have made an all-defensive team in 2023-24 as well, Green chipped in:
“Well somebody gotta move over because I wasn’t qualified to make it this year. I am not getting suspended next year. So, I am gonna make it. Somebody gotta move over, that’s all I am saying.”
The NBA mandated a 65-game rule for players to be selected for any regular-season recognitions. As Draymond Green featured in just 55 games, he didn’t even qualify to be considered for the all-defensive teams.
Despite age catching up with him, the 34-year-old remains a force on the defensive end, as highlighted by the Warriors’ interest in extending him last summer compared to Klay Thompson this offseason.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, meanwhile, signed a three-year, $66 million deal with the Orlando Magic after spending the past two seasons with the Denver Nuggets. KCP was a key part of the Nuggets’ championship run in 2022-23.
As one of the best two-way guards in the league, Orlando will be hoping for great things from him. He will be paired alongside Jalen Suggs, who made the All-Defensive Second Team last season.
How many games was Draymond Green suspended in 2023-24?
While Draymond Green has a long history with suspensions, no other season has come close to what the forward and the Golden State Warriors had to go through last season.
Green was initially sidelined for five games after choke holding Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Not even two weeks after serving the five-game suspension, he got suspended indefinitely for swinging at and hitting the Phoenix Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic.
The indefinite suspension lasted 12 games, during which Draymond Green had to see a counselor for anger management and talk about the issues he was allegedly dealing with at the time.
While he did return with an immediate impact on the floor, those 17 games proved to be the difference between a fixed playoff spot and the play-in tournament. The Warriors eventually finished the season with a 46-36 record and lost to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tourney.