For the first time in nearly a month, Draymond Green rejoined the Warriors and was on the bench for their loss Sunday night to the Toronto Raptors. But, according to Green, there was no guarantee that he would be back at all.
Amid his indefinite suspension for punching the Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic, Green said he called Adam Silver and threatened to retire. But the NBA commissioner talked him out of it.
“I told him, ‘Adam this is too much for me. … This is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire,’” Green reportedly said in a clip of ‘The Draymond Green Show’ shared exclusively with ESPN. “And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.’
“We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
In his 12th season, Green, 33, is averaging 9.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game when on the court.
However, those instances have been few and far between, with Green suspended for more games this season (17) than in which he has played (15).
The Warriors forward returned to the team facility Sunday for the first time since the Dec. 14 announcement of his latest suspension.
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He missed 12 games — and is expected to sit out the next week, according to ESPN, as he ramps up physically — in his second suspension of the season. Green also missed five games earlier this season after grabbing and choking Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Last year, Green punched then-teammate Jordan Poole in practice but received little consequence.
Part of the punishment this time for the repeat offender was a month of counseling sessions.
In 13 games without Green, the Warriors have gone 7-6 but while surrendering 121 points per 100 possessions, the fifth-worst defensive rating in the league.
After their latest loss to Toronto, during which they allowed a season-worst 76 points in the first half, the Warriors are two games below .500, at 17-19, in 11th place in the Western Conference, half a game out of the play-in tournament and and 4½ back of a top-six seed.
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