Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is getting close to returning from his suspension, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Although the NBA will have the final say about when exactly the suspension will end, he is expected to be back at the practice facility “in the coming days,” per ESPN.
Green hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the head during a game on Dec. 12. The next day, the league suspended him indefinitely, citing his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” Two weeks earlier, Green had returned from a five-game suspension for grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert around the neck.
Since the suspension began, Green has reportedly attended counseling sessions and taken part in several Zoom meetings with representatives from the Warriors, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. Once Green has gotten back in the gym and ramped up to play, “it’s believed that Green will have satisfied the league’s requirements to return,” per ESPN.
On Dec. 18, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Green would be sidelined for at least three more weeks, which would mean the earliest he could return to the court would be Jan. 10 against the New Orleans Pelicans. That same day, however, Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, reiterated that there was no minimum or maximum number of games attached to the suspension.
Green will miss the Warriors’ game against the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Thursday. After that, they will host the Detroit Pistons on Friday and the Toronto Raptors on Sunday before the aforementioned game against the Pelicans next Wednesday.
Green has missed Golden State’s last 10 games because of this suspension. The Warriors have gone 6-4 in that stretch and are 9-9 on the season with Green out of the lineup. Overall, they’re 16-17 and 11th in the Western Conference.
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After Golden State’s 121-115 win against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, coach Steve Kerr told reporters he wasn’t sure how long it would take for Green to ramp up once he gets back in the practice facility. Kerr said that he’d texted with Green a little bit, but didn’t offer much of an update on his status.
“We’ve been giving him his space, he’s been giving us ours,” Kerr said.