On Tuesday night, Draymond Green channeled his inner Dirty D and did what Dirty D inevitably does.
The victim that night was Phoenix Suns forward Jusuf Nurkic, who was the recipient of a vicious slap to the face as Green was trying to “sell a call.”
Draymond has been ejected after flagrant foul on Nurkić pic.twitter.com/RmrLU5tdw8
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 13, 2023
After the game, Green apologized and said it wasn’t intentional.
“I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” explained Green. “I sell calls with my arms. I don’t fall to sell a call. I’m not a flopper,” said Green. “So I spun away and unfortunately, I hit him. And so I like I said, I apologized to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him.”
Selling calls with your arms is one thing. But doing an open-handed flailing whirlwind attempt akin to a “Street Fighter” character is entirely different.
The NBA has rules against arm flailing, which they clearly illustrate in this video. In that example, ruled a Flagrant 1, the NBA states, “There is hard impact, and significant contact is made. There is also potential for injury as well. A Flagrant Foul, Penalty 1 is defined as contact that is unnecessary.”
Draymond took things to a different level as he used his entire body to spin around, build momentum, and crack Nurkic in the face. Regardless of his intent, Green was hit with a Flagrant 2 and was ejected.
This was Green’s sixth career suspension and his second suspension this season. In November, Green applied a rear naked choke to the Timberwolves Rudy Gobert, earning him a five-game suspension.
Green isn’t just hurting other players. He’s hurting The Warriors with his dirty play, and Tuesday night’s spinning back fist was the latest example for all to see.
On Wednesday, NBA fans were wondering not if he would be suspended, but how many games would he get.
Later that night, the NBA issued its verdict and suspended Green indefinitely.
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