20 Second Timeout

NBA Suspends Draymond Green Indefinitely for his "Repeated History of Unsportsmanlike Acts"

Less than a month after suspending Draymond Green for five games for "unsportsmanlike and dangerous" conduct, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has suspended Draymond Green indefinitely because of his "repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts," the latest of which was slugging Jusuf Nurkic in the face. The NBA's public statement added that Green "will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play."

An indefinite suspension could last for just one game--although that seem unlikely here--or it could turn into a permanent ban (which also seems unlikely, though perhaps not impossible given Green's violent and volatile behavior). The last NBA player who received an indefinite suspension is Gilbert Arenas, who now just recklessly shoots off his mouth on his podcast instead of threatening to shoot people with guns. Arenas earned his indefinite suspension in 2010--and came close to being a Darwin Award winner--by bringing four guns into the locker room and challenging then-teammate Javaris Crittenton to choose one for a gun duel. After his NBA career ended, Crittenton served 10 years in prison for manslaughter; Arenas may have thought his locker room gun play was all (foolish) fun and games, but he was messing with someone who had no compunction about pulling a trigger and taking another person's life: Crittenton shot and killed a 22 year old mother of four in a drive-by shooting--and the victim's family is understandably outraged that he only served 10 years of his 23 year sentence (but that is a topic for a different article). Commissioner David Stern succinctly explained why he suspended Arenas by stating that Arenas "is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game." Stern also suspended Crittenton for the rest of the season, and Crittenton never played in the NBA again.

Arenas' suspension lasted 50 games. He then returned to the Washington Wizards, and resumed jacking up wild shots for a losing team before the Wizards dealt him to the Orlando Magic. Arenas averaged 8.0 ppg on .344 field goal shooting in 49 games for the Magic in 2010-11 before concluding his career by scoring 4.2 ppg on .406 field goal shooting in 17 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2011-12. Now, Arenas--who won a grand total of one playoff series during his entire career--dispenses his peculiar perspective on basketball on a podcast featuring hot takes that are as off the mark as his erratic .421 career field goal shooting. Arenas' post-suspension NBA career lasted 87 games.

Stern's description of Arenas' lack of fitness to appear in an NBA game is applicable to Green as well. Hopefully, Green will seek help and make sincere efforts to change his mindset and behavior as opposed to just paying lip service long enough to get back on the court. Right now, Green is an overrated and emotionally erratic player for a sub.-500 team; he is not indispensable for the Warriors, and the Warriors are far from being a marquee team, so Green is on a trajectory taking him out of the league if he does not get his act together. The bottom line is that the Warriors don't need him--they can be sub-.500 without his extra baggage--and the NBA is fed up with him.

Labels: Adam Silver, David Stern, Draymond Green, Gilbert Arenas, Golden State Warriors

posted by David Friedman @ 1:16 AM

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