OAKLAND—Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was issued a one-game suspension by the NBA on Sunday, sidelining him for the Monday’s potential title-clinching fifth game of the NBA Finals.
The defending champion Warriors, who seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 108-97 victory over Cleveland on Friday, vowed to win the crown at home for Green.
“It sucks now that he’s not going to be on the floor,” Warriors star guard Stephen Curry said. “He gives us that fire and that attitude we need. We love that about him and now we have to go out and get a win for him.”
Green struck Cavaliers star LeBron James in the groin with a flailing hand with 2:48 remaining in the fourth quarter Friday after the two had tangled bodies and James stepped over Green as he was on the court.
“I felt like at that point in time it was a little bit outside of basketball,” James said of Green’s foul.
Green, who was nearly done with Sunday’s practice when told of the ban by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, had told NBA TV he felt insulted by James’ step-over move.
“He stepped over me,” Green said. “There’s many routes you can take. Don’t step over me like that… I don’t care who you are. I’m not going to back down.”
Asked if his step-over move rather than going around Green was disrespectful, James replied, “I don’t disrespect anybody. It’s all in competition. I was just trying to get back into the play.”
After NBA officials reviewed the incident, Green’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant one, giving him a one-game ban for a fourth accumulated playoff flagrant foul that will be served Monday.
Kerr said Green was “disappointed” but vowed, “We’re going play extremely hard and we’re confident we can win. We’re going to play a lot of people, give a lot of different looks, compete like crazy and I think we’ll give ourselves a great chance to win.”
Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA executive vice president of basketball operations, ruled Green made unnecessary contact with James with a retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin.