7:33pm: The NBA has officially confirmed Green’s five-game suspension, as well as the $25K fines for Thompson, McDaniels, and Gobert.
In its press release (Twitter link), the NBA said Green was suspended for “escalating an on-court altercation and forcibly grabbing (Gobert) around the neck in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner.” The length of the suspension was based in part on Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the league added.
7:16pm: Warriors forward Draymond Green will be suspended five games by the NBA for his role in Tuesday’s altercation in Minnesota, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
After Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels engaged in some grabbing, pushing, and shoving that resulted in a stoppage in play early in the first quarter of Tuesday’s game, Green entered the fracas and put Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock for several seconds (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).
The game’s officials, who ruled that Gobert had been trying to deescalate the situation, hit Green with a flagrant 2 foul and an ejection.
A report earlier in the day from Wojnarowski indicated that the NBA was reviewing the situation, with Green considered to be the focus of that investigation due to the Gobert headlock as well as his history of on-court physicality and suspensions. When Green was suspended in the 2023 playoffs for stepping on Domantas Sabonis, his reputation as a “repeat offender” was cited by the league.
As a result of the five-game ban, Green will miss the Warriors’ games against the Thunder on Thursday and Saturday, as well as their contests vs. Houston (Nov. 20), Phoenix (Nov. 22), and San Antonio (Nov. 24). That game vs. the Spurs is an in-season tournament matchup.
Golden State is also without top scorer Stephen Curry in the short term due to a sore right knee. Curry has been ruled out for Thursday’s game vs. the Thunder and is expected to be reevaluated later this week.
The suspension will cost Green a total of $769,704, or $153,941 per game, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. His salary for the 2022/23 season is $22,321,429, and he’ll forfeit 1/145th of that salary for each game of the suspension.
While Green is the only player being suspended as a result of Tuesday’s squabble, Thompson, McDaniels, and Gobert will be fined $25K apiece, Wojnarowski tweets.