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Kendra Andrews, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — The Golden State Warriors held a team meeting Wednesday to discuss Draymond Green‘s indefinite suspension and the actions and behavior that led to it.
It was an honest and emotional conversation. But at the root of each message shared was the commitment to Green, as a player and person.
“The conversations we had yesterday were about him and making sure the focus is getting right and getting on a path that’s going to allow him to be who he needs to be as a person, a man, a father, a husband and basketball player, in that order,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said.
Curry said that the conversation was about “holding each other accountable — holding Draymond accountable — to what’s been going on and what needs to change.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said that Green’s latest altercation — swiping Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face in what Green said was an attempt to sell a foul call — was concerning because it was the fourth incident in the past year in which he acted out violently. These acts weren’t the same as his past ejections that were caused by yelling at an official or some other demonstrative antics during a game.
“The one who choked Rudy [Gobert], the one who took a wild flail at Jusuf, the one who punched Jordan [Poole] last year — that’s the guy who needs to change,” Kerr said. “This is not just about an outburst on the court. It’s about his life. It’s about someone who I believe in, someone I have known for decades, who I love for his loyalty.”
Following Green’s assault of Poole, the Warriors and Green agreed that he should spend time away from the team, and he did for less than one week. But that didn’t change his behavior.
A source told ESPN that the Warriors lost all leverage in holding Green accountable when they failed to give him harsher punishment during last year’s preseason altercation with Poole.
Now with the league stepping in, there is a major shift in the organization’s messaging toward Green and his behavior.
“The tone has obviously changed from any other suspension,” Curry said. “Times have passed where we’re just here because we’re playing basketball. … You’ve got to take a step back and make sure everybody is right.”
Curry, Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. all underlined the importance of Green using his ban as a time for personal growth. Dunleavy said he suggested to the league that there be no set timeline for the suspension in order to give Green as much time as he needs.
Curry expressed confidence in Green’s ability to find his better side, saying that part of Wednesday’s meeting was Green acknowledging his behavior must change.
However, Dunleavy couldn’t ensure there wouldn’t be another incident whenever Green returns.
“I can’t guarantee you that,” Dunleavy said. “I can just say we will continue to do the right things to help him. I think we’ve done a decent job at that in the past and we’ll continue to work through it all. There are a lot of parties involved. The biggest thing here to me is not the punishment, it’s helping and giving assistance.”
On Wednesday night, the league announced Green’s suspension timeline would be tied to him meeting “certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.”
“We want to see you at your best and the best way for you to do that is to get yourself mentally and emotionally back to where you need to be,” NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “That’s how we got to indefinite.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Green, Dunleavy and Green’s agent, Rich Paul, were expected to meet Thursday to start discussing a path of counseling for Green.
“There is a lot of this that has to happen with people who are experts in this field,” Kerr said. “My role in this is to support Draymond as best I can. … We want to give him the space, time and assistance he needs to make a significant change. … We’re not qualified to offer some of the things he needs.”
Green will remain with the team throughout his suspension, though he’s not expected to be there every day. Dunleavy said it would be more beneficial for Green to stay connected to the group than “jettisoning the guy off somewhere.” Green was not with the team in Los Angeles on Thursday and will be away for a least a few days.
“We’ve got to give it a few days,” Kerr said. “I think the team needs a little space. I think Draymond needs a little space. Draymond will do what he feels right and then move forward.”
The main message the Warriors have been pushing during Green’s absences — especially during his five-game suspension after putting Gobert in a chokehold — is how much they will miss him in games.
They have stressed to Green that he has to do whatever it takes to stay on the floor. He has missed eight games because of suspension, injuries or personal reasons this season and has been ejected from three more.
“His ability this year has been great, his availability has not,” Dunleavy said.
Dunleavy said the next 15 to 20 games will be critical in determining what adjustments the team has to make on its roster. Seeing how the team plays without Green will be more important in assessing what it has to do, he said.
In the Warriors’ 121-113 loss to the LA Clippers on Thursday night — Golden State’s first game without Green — Kerr went to Jonathan Kuminga as the replacement starter, while also swapping Brandin Podziemski for Andrew Wiggins.
Kuminga was the obvious choice to replace Green in the front court, according to Kerr, but he also wanted to supplement some of Green’s playmaking with Podziemski’s while Wiggins’ struggles continued.
Kerr also wanted to keep Chris Paul and Dario Saric together in the second unit. This will be a rotation Kerr sticks with for the foreseeable future, he said, as the team, which currently holds a 10-14 record and is three games out of 10th place in the Western Conference, tries to navigate the next stretch. The Warriors are forced to do so without their heart and soul.
“You try to hold on to the fabric of how we do things with a group that we’ve done it with for so long, and now you’re in a position where that’s threatened a little bit,” Curry said. “That’s OK. Acknowledge it. I have a lot of confidence in what this group can do.”
Source: www.espn.com