Jusuf Nurkić still respects Draymond Green and doesn’t view him any differently, even after taking a hit to the face from the Warriors’ veteran forward Tuesday night.
“I have a lot of respect for him, obviously, even before this,” the Phoenix Suns center said before Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at Footprint Center (h/t Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin). “I still have it. I don’t know what people go through. It’s not our problem, but he’s an NBA champion for me, Hall of Famer still.”
“It’s kind of sad to see people going in a bad direction,” Nurkić also said. “I want him to succeed and still be the Draymond we all know. I have no bad feelings or any hate toward him.”
Green was ejected in the third quarter of Golden State’s 119-116 loss to Phoenix after officials assessed him with a Flagrant 2 foul for swinging at Nurkić and striking him across the face during an inbounds play.
Green maintained after the game that he didn’t intend to hit Nurkić. Rather, he believed the Suns big man was holding his hip, and Green said he was just trying to sell a foul call. Green also said he apologized to Nurkić.
Green has been ejected from a game three times this season.
“What’s going on with him? I don’t know,” Nurkić said after Tuesday’s game. “That brother needs help. I’m glad he didn’t try and choke me. But at the same time, it had nothing to do with basketball. I’m just out there trying to play basketball and they’re out there swinging.
“I think we saw that often. I hope whatever he got in his life, it gets better.”
Nurkić said the next day that he believed the NBA would “do what’s best for the league and for [Draymond]” regarding further discipline. And it did.
The NBA announced Wednesday it had suspended Green indefinitely, stating the Warriors forward’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” factored into the decision.
Green’s suspension will begin immediately, per the NBA, and he must meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.
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