"Let's not pretend that this was near death experience" - Rachel Nichols gives polarizing take on Draymond Green's chokehold on Rudy Gobert

The NBA community was surprised to see Draymond Green put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during their Nov. 14 game between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves. After serving his five-game suspension, many experts are still not over what had happened during the game.

Green was issued a five-game suspension after putting Gobert in a chokehold. This happened during an altercation between Jaden McDaniels and Klay Thompson early in the first quarter.

After the incident, many have criticized Green for his actions and asked for him to be given a significant punishment. The NBA didn't push through in giving the defensive forward a hefty punishment and just opted to suspend him for a few games.

Journalist Rachel Nichols addressed the issue at hand and saw the situation through a different lens.

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"He did not ruin the other Golden State Warriors' seasons." Nichols said. "So, I totally agree with John Salley here, I am 100% in his camp. Every single guy in that Warriors roster wants Draymond Green on the roster. Every other player around the league, if they're honest with them and they're GM came and saidm 'Hey, we just traded for Draymond.' They'd be like, 'Yes!'

"Players want to play with him, even though they hate playing against him, he is the kind of guy you want on your team... but Rudy Gobert was laughing. Both during the chokehold and afterward. So, let us not pretend that this was a near death experience for everyone and take it quite so seriously.

According to Nichols, people should not take things so seriously when it comes to the Gobert-Green incident. After all, it's in the past and both players seem to have moved on.

You might also be interested in reading this: “Rookies f**k up plays. He doesn't": Draymond Green hails Warriors’ rookie Brandin Podziemski stepping up this season

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Kendrick Perkins doesn't believe in Draymond Green's claims

Draymond Green believes the Warriors will still be a contending team this season. Despite showing signs of slowing down and inefficiency, Green has not stopped believing in what the team can achieve this season.

However, former NBA center Kendrick Perkins isn't confident in what the team can do this season. Given that there are obvious struggles, Perk thinks there are other teams far better than Golden State this season.

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"No, I dont," Perk said when asked if he agrees with Green's claim of the Warriors being a title team. "...I understand, this is who Draymond is. He gotta continue to pump positive energy, he's their emotional leader, I can't knock him for that. But I'm not rolling with them in this ball club as being a legit title contender."

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The rise of the other teams will be a daunting task to overcome for the Warriors this season.

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