Draymond Green talks about what LeBron James said to him when he was suspended and thinking about retiring.
When Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was serving an indefinite suspension from the NBA following his December 12 game-day hit on Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic, the forward shared with James what the Los Angeles Lakers superstar told him.
During his suspension, Green revealed that he was thinking about retiring, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked him out of it.
Green’s 2023–24 campaign has not gone well; he has been sent off from three games and suspended numerous times. Since Green signed a four-year contract to stay in Golden State this past offseason, it has been difficult for the Warriors.
With Green out, Golden State is now the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference with a 17-19 record.
Even though James and Green are on rival teams – and have competed against each other in the NBA Finals on four occasions in their NBA career – there clearly is a mutual respect between the two players.
James certainly wanted to make sure that Green was doing well during his absence, and it appears the time away from the game was tough on the Warriors star – especially since he was considering walking away from the game.
Despite his season-long struggles, Green has actually contributed positively to Golden State when he has been on the court. Green is shooting 42.9 percent from three-point range and 49.0 percent from the field with an average of 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game.
In the early part of the 2023–24 NBA season, Green—a four-time champion and previous winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award—was suspended for headlocking Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert during a skirmish between the teams.
With any luck, Green’s absence from the NBA and the encouragement of teammates like LeBron James will enable him to return and contribute to Golden State this coming season.
When the Lakers and Warriors play on January 27, James and Green most likely will have an opportunity to display their mutual respect for one another on the court. After defeating the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, Los Angeles holds the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, ahead of the Warriors.
Draymond Green, the leader of the Golden State Warriors locker room, discussed his recent 12-game suspension for slapping Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic during a game on December 13. This incident has been the topic of endless sports talk over the past few weeks.
Since March, Green has experienced four suspensions. Just six games had passed since he completed a five-game, non-paying suspension for “escalating an on-court altercation” in which he put Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock. This was his most recent involuntary time away. Naturally, the sports media has been analyzing the events and specifics of the four-time NBA champion’s most recent transgression at breakneck speed.
With four recent titles, a revolutionary style of play, and, oh, the best shooter in NBA history (Stephan Curry), the Warriors are a mainstay team in the modern NBA. Although Green’s numbers aren’t flashy, he is the straw that stirs the highly sought-after beverage in the franchise. As a result, he has also contributed significantly to the league’s success in recent years, helping to raise ratings and pave the way for the upcoming, highly anticipated record-breaking TV deal.
“I’ve listened to a lot of what people have to say. And ordinarily, I would respond, “F you.” In the opening moments of his 50-minute podcast, The Draymond Green Show, Green stated today.
He went on to explain that such chatter would normally only fuel his fire and prompt a fierce determination to prove his critics wrong. In his words, he had a “now watch what I do to you with all that fuel that you give to me” attitude. In fact, at one point in the past few days, Green said he was ready to walk away from the game, and the $77.7 million h’s been promised by the Warriors over the next three years, altogether.
“But this time I decided to listen,” said Green. And what he heard, he said, was “an opportunity for growth.”
Green went through a list of people who’d suffered because of his conduct, including his wife, himself, his mother, his kids, his teammates and even Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob.
“I failed miserably,” Green said.
He likened his “I’ll show you” mentality to that of a 15-year-old.
“I’ve realized that the responsibility is much greater. The responsibility that’s been placed on me…I’ve handled it miserably. Terribly.”
