"Let's take care of him": Bob Myers gets real about Draymond Green's indefinite suspension
Former Golden State Warriors General Manager Bob Myers supports the decision of the NBA to suspend Draymond Green for an indefinite period of time, so as to give him all the time he needs to straighten his act and get back on the court.
The former NBA defensive player of the year was suspended by the league early this week for a series of volatile actions on the court that culminated in Green striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic on the face in their 119-116 loss on Tuesday.
The NBA did not take the incident lightly, expressing concern over a seeming “violent” pattern in the recent plays of the All-Star forward.
It moved to suspend the 12-year player indefinitely and immediately, saying he would “be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.”
During the broadcast of the game between the Suns and the New York Knicks on Friday night, Myers, who now works as a game analyst for ESPN, was asked for his thoughts on the suspension of his former player.
He shared that suspending Green for an indefinite period was the right direction to take to fully address the issues surrounding the behavior of the four-time NBA champion:
“I do like the fact that the NBA all supported the fact that let’s look at the person… People that are fans of the NBA sometimes forget that these (players) are people, too. People are imperfect.
“And I love the fact that NBA is not putting a number on it [suspension]. That also gives Draymond some time to say, ‘Let’s look at this. Let’s see why this is happening.’ And I think that’s the best way … By saying indefinitely allows him and the Warriors and everybody involved to say, ‘Let’s take care of him’ …”
Draymond Green admits he may have taken hold of Rudy Gobert too far
Before the striking incident with Jusuf Nurkic, Draymond Green was also suspended earlier this season for putting Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert in a chokehold.
The Golden State All-Star initially downplayed that matter but recently admitted that he may have taken the action too far.
In a recent conversation with ESPN's senior writer Ramona Shelburne, Draymond Green admitted that he may have gone too far with what he did to Gobert:
“When I watched it back, I said, 'Damn, I held him much longer than I realized in that moment.'”
The scuffle between Draymond Green and Gobert occurred early in the first quarter of their teams’ game in San Francisco on Nov. 14. The two got involved after Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels figured in a pushing-and-shoving match midcourt.
Other players tried to separate them, including Gobert, before Green jumped on him, put him in a headlock, and dragged him away. McDaniels, Thompson, and Green were all ejected afterward.
For what he did, the former Michigan State player was suspended for five games without pay.