By CJ Carlson
It was a complete mess down there in Golden State when the Warriors took on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Just a few minutes into the contest, Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniel’s start to get into a small scuffle. Immediately, Rudy Gobert sprinted over to break them apart and try to maintain the peace early on in the night.
Unfortunately, Draymond Green was upset for an unknown reason and launched himself into the scuffle to put Gobert into a literal chokehold and drag him backward. As that happens, McDaniel’s and Thompson continue their fight on the side. Well, the NBA didn’t let this slide without punishment.
The league reviewed the footage and they’ve officially suspended Draymond for five games without pay. The reasoning they gave was that he escalated an on-court altercation while also forcibly grabbing Gobert around the neck. The suspension was also determined due to his history of unsportsmanlike play on the basketball court.
The punishment didn’t get stopped at Draymond though. Klay Thompson, McDaniel’s, and Gobert have all been fined $25,000. Thompson and McDaniel’s were also ejected alongside Draymond for that particular game.
After the game ended, Gobert didn’t want to let the chokehold go without throwing out his opinion on the matter. He stated that his belief that Draymond always goes out of his way to get ejected/suspended when Steph Curry doesn’t play. While that sounds outrageous, it is absolutely correct according to his history.
Seven of Draymond’s last 11 ejections on the court have come when Steph doesn’t play in the game. Whether Steph’s helping him keep his cool, or if he just doesn’t care about the game without his star teammate is yet to be determined. However, the stats don’t really help Green out here.
Draymond’s suspension will begin on November 16th when the team takes on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Who knows how this team will react to losing both Steph and Draymond early on in the season. Perhaps the acquisition of Chris Paul will benefit them significantly more than they had anticipated when getting him.
