GWINN: Draymond Green Should Probably Face Criminal Charges, not Just a Suspension

It’s generally believed that most NBA players play basketball because that’s the thing they want to do most in life. That may not be the case with Golden State’s Draymond Green.

Green was ejected for the third time in the last 15 games Tuesday night after hitting Suns star Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

After the game and before the NBA announced his indefinite suspension, Green called his attack on Jurkic “bad luck.” It was just an unfortunate occurrence as he attempted to “sell” the foul he felt Nurkic had perpetrated against him.

Seems reasonable, right? After all, who among us hasn’t instinctively spun around and hit someone in the face after they merely touched us? Lately, it seems Green has had a lot of “bad luck.”

Here’s a brief compilation of Green having “bad luck.”

But there’s something different about Green’s attack on Nurkic and about 90 percent of the other altercations in the above video. With Nurkic, he wasn’t even attempting to play basketball. It’s not like he gave Nurkic a hard shoulder while scrambling for a loose ball in the paint.

Green just turned around and hit him!

What Green did to Nurkic was not a hard foul. What Green did to Nurkic is against the law in every state and city in America. So, why is it legal on an NBA court? Or is an NBA court someplace where law and order go to die?

Again, we’re not talking about a mere violent or flagrant act committed while making a play that is common to the game. That is something that the NBA only the NBA should regulate. What we’re talking about is what would be called assault if you, I, or any other person in this country were to do it.

For all the talk of privilege in the world today, it seems like NBA players have an awful lot of it.

Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on November 11, 2023, in San Francisco, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

It also seems like Draymond Green really likes to fight people. Maybe even more than he likes to play basketball. Because he seems perfectly willing to sacrifice basketball in order to get in someone’s face or hit someone.

But that’s okay! There’s good news for Draymond. There’s a thriving new celebrity boxing movement where boxing novices like Draymond Green can fight YouTubers and other celebs and make millions of dollars. All Green has to do is pick up the phone, and he could have a multi-million dollar fight with Jake Paul.

Someone who actually knows how to fight!

It’s time for the NBA to decide that the rule of law doesn’t cease to exist on their floor. And it’s time for Draymond Green to decide whether he wants to play basketball for a living or punch people in the face for a living.

Because he can’t have both.