Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Reacts To Draymond Green's Indefinite Suspension

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr thinks the indefinite suspension  Warriors forward Draymond Green  was given by the NBA on Wednesday “makes sense.”

“To me this is about more than basketball, it’s about helping Draymond,” he said during a press conference on Thursday. “I think it’s an opportunity for Draymond to step away and to make a change in his approach, in his life, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Green was suspended indefinitely for knocking down Phoenix Suns’ player Jusuf Nurkic during a Warriors vs. Suns game on Tuesday. He was ejected from the game. 

The NBA said in a statement announcing the suspension that the league  considered Green’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts ” in its decision.

Green will be “required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play,” the statement said. 

The incident with Nurkic is Green’s third ejection and second suspension this season.

He was suspended by the league for five games last month for grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves player Rudy Gobert around the neck in a headlock.

During Thursday’s press conference, Kerr mentioned Green’s incident with Gobert, and said it wouldn’t have made sense to give Green another five-day suspension for his latest violation.

“That’s not something you say, ‘OK, we’ll do five games’ and then he’s gonna be fine,” he said. “The league did five games after the incident with Rudy [Gobert]. That’s not the answer, to pick a number.”

“The answer is to help Draymond, give him the help he needs,” he continued.

Green addressed the incident with Nurkic during a press conference  after his ejection from the game, saying that the Suns player was “pulling” his hip when the situation occurred. 

“I was swinging away to sell the call, made contact with him,” he said. “As you know, 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.”