Joe Lacob said the Warriors weren't picking sides in the Kevin Durant-Draymond Green beef by suspending Green.
That's what the owner and CEO told the San Francisco Chronicle, disputing the perception the Warriors tried to appease Durant, who could leave next summer as a free agent.
“I’ve read and heard all the things people are talking about. That we’re choosing one person over another," Lacob told the paper Thursday before he and co-owner Peter Guber were honored by the Bay Area Council's Business Hall of Fame. "We’re not choosing anybody over anybody.”
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The Warriors suspended Green for Tuesday's win over the Atlanta Hawks after an altercation between him and Durant. A team source told NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole that Green crossed the line in the confrontation by bringing up Durant's impending free agency.
Lacob, like Warriors coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers, would not confirm what Green said. He did, however, tell the Chronicle that the Warriors felt Green's conduct was inappropriate.
“The point is, whether it would be any employee, they’d have to act certain ways to be our employee," Lacob said. "Draymond knows that he went beyond — won’t say what he did, or what he said, or anything like that — he went beyond what we felt appropriate, so it didn’t matter who it was.
“And he understands that, by the way. I’ve been texting with him, and he totally gets it. I do have a great relationship with him, and I still do.”
Golden State Warriors
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Green returned to the lineup in Thursday's 107-86 loss to the Houston Rockets. He played just 23 minutes, missing all three of his shots and finishing minus-10.
The forward was hampered by a sprained right toe, and will not suit up Saturday against the Dallas Mavericks.