Although it is still unclear how long the Golden State Warriors will lose Draymond Green, reputable journalist Shams Charania has just updated that the 33-year-old striker will be suspended for at least another 3 weeks.
This is the time the 33-year-old pioneer underwent psychological evaluation and testing. He will work with experts and needs to meet some (undisclosed) conditions before he can play again.
Journalist Shams Charania added: “My source said Draymond will be psychologically evaluated and closely monitored by both the Warriors and NBA representatives during this time.
Close sources said that Draymond Green has shown understanding and is willing to follow the psychological testing process to return to play soon. More details about this psychological supervision and counseling stage are kept confidential to show respect for the parties.
A week ago, Draymond Green received an indefinite suspension from the NBA for swinging his hand and hitting Jusuf Nurkic (Phoenix Suns) in the head on December 13.
The two players had a legitimate collision while arguing about position, then Green suddenly turned around and swung his arms quite strongly. It’s unclear whether it was accidental or intentional, but the ball left Nurkic stunned and had to lie on the field.
The referees immediately stopped the match to review the video. Here, they decided to immediately expel Draymond with level 2 flagrant behavior (flagrant-2).
Watch the rough play that caused Draymond Green to be expelled from the field
The Golden State Warriors player apologized to Jusuf Nurkic immediately after the match, saying that he did not intentionally hit anyone but just swung his arm to make a mistake.
One day after the match ended, the NBA decided to suspend Draymond Green indefinitely, explaining that he “tends to repeat unsportsmanlike behavior”.
This is Green’s second suspension this season alone. In November, he was banned from playing for 5 matches after strangling Rudy Gobert in a situation where two teams were arguing.
In addition to Draymond Green personally participating in the psychological evaluation process, his agent, “super agent” Rich Paul, also participated to help the team find the best solution.
It is still unknown exactly how many games Green will miss. If Draymond is out of action for at least the next 3 weeks, the total number of games Draymond will be suspended will be about 10-12 games.
Since he had to retire, Golden State has had 2 wins in 3 matches. But in the series of 5 matches that Green was suspended last month, the Warriors won 2 and lost 3.
