AP SAN FRANCISCO — Less than twenty-four hours after he struck Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face and was given a Flagrant 2 foul and sent off, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was handed an NBA indefinite suspension on Wednesday.
According to the league, operations chief Joe Dumars’ penalty takes effect right now. Green has already served two suspensions this season.
Before he can play again, “he will need to meet certain league and team conditions,” the league stated.
“This outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said.
The Warriors said that Green’s suspension will be discussed during shootaround on Thursday in Los Angeles before a game against the Clippers, but they did not have a statement on hand on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Green, who has played in four Warriors titles, was ejected for the 18th time in his NBA career, which is the most of any active player.
Early in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 119-116 loss to Phoenix, Green and Nurkic got into a tangle while battling for position close to the baseline corner as the team was inbounding the ball near their own bench. Green seemed to sway a little before turning and facing Nurkic, his right arm making contact with the large man’s face.
Nurkic went down hard right away and remained down for a short while before getting back up to continue playing.
That was unrelated to basketball, according to Nurkic. “I’m just attempting to play basketball outside.”
The NBA suspended Green for five games after he put Rudy Gobert of Minnesota in a headlock during a fight in November.
A suspension that lasts indefinitely has not been done much before. Gilbert Arenas, a guard for Washington, was placed on indefinite leave in 2010 by then-Commissioner David Stern for bringing weapons into the team locker room. The statement “his ongoing conduct… led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game” by Stern preceded Arenas’ eventual 50-game suspension.
