"It wouldn't surprise me" - Stephen A. Smith hints at likely suspension for Draymond Green
Draymond Green was involved in a crazy incident during the Golden State Warriors’ Game 2 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
The Warriors have now lost two straight games against the third-seeded Kings. However, that is not the only problem at hand. Draymond Green received a technical and a Flagrant 2 foul when he stomped on Domantas Sabonis’ chest during the fourth quarter.
Kings center Domantas Sabonis fell to the floor while fighting for a loose rebound, and his arm got tangled up with Warriors forward Draymond Green's right leg. Sabonis received a technical foul for grabbing Green’s leg. Green later explained that his legs had been grabbed for the second time in two games.
Speaking on ESPN's "First Take," Smith claimed that while Green had a reasonable explanation, he might still end up getting suspended:
“It’s a hard one for me. From one angle I am looking at him and I am thinking it calls for a suspension because it looked excessive. From another angle, I saw Sabonis grab his ankle. And then you say, wait a minute he has a point there. I am torn.
"I will tell you what I do believe what is going to happen and I pray it doesn’t because obviously you need Draymond to win this series against the Grizzlies if you have been watching at all.”
.@stephenasmith reacts to Draymond Green's ejection:
"It wouldn't surprise me at all if the NBA suspended him." https://t.co/n3tuTIFrtx
He added:
“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the NBA suspended him. Because the NBA do suspend people for less. Depending on which angle you are looking at it from. I think his explanation helps his case, but I don’t know how much it will help in front of the NBA.”
Draymond Green and Domantas Sabonis have different takes on what happened
Domantas Sabonis appeared quite upset after the game, claiming that there was no place for such action in the modern NBA. While Draymond Green claimed that Sabonis grabbed his ankle, the 26-year-old Lithuanian maintained that he had no intention of grabbing Green’s leg:
“At that point, I get pushed. I’m falling on the floor. I’m just trying to protect myself.”
However, both Klay Thompson and Draymond Green claimed that the stomp was only a result of the initial contact by Sabonis. The explanation seems to have hit the right chord, with Shaquille O’Neal also claiming that he would have done something similar if someone had grabbed his leg.
.@stephenasmith reacts to Draymond Green's ejection:
"It wouldn't surprise me at all if the NBA suspended him." https://t.co/n3tuTIFrtx
Thompson had the following reaction to the incident:
“That's not cool, man. I'm not saying what Draymond did was right but you can't just grab somebody's foot when they are taking off in a full sprint. That's not cool. I don't do that. That's crazy."