- Programming note: Warriors fans can watch complete Game 3 coverage Thursday on NBC Sports Bay Area, NBCSportsBayArea.com and the NBC Sports app. “Warriors Pregame Live” starts at 6 p.m., followed by Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike on the game broadcast at 7, with “Warriors Postgame Live” and then “Dubs Talk Live” immediately after the game.
The NBA’s Tuesday night announcement that Warriors forward Draymond Green will be suspended for Game 3 of the first-round playoff series against the Kings left many seeking an explanation.
Joe Dumars now has provided that explanation.
The NBA’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday that “excessive and over-the-top actions, conduct detrimental and a repeat offender” were the factors leading to Green’s suspension for stomping on Kings center Domantas Sabonis’ chest in Game 2.
Green’s absence further deepens the Warriors’ problems, as they trail the Kings two games to none in the best-of-seven series and desperately need a Game 3 win Thursday night at Chase Center.
Dumars, a Hall of Fame guard who worked in various Kings front-office positions from 2019 to 2022 before joining the NBA, also told Wojnarowski that the importance of this moment in the series had to be set aside in considering Green’s punishment. Green's status as a “repeat offender weighs as heavy as anything,” per Dumars, as the Warriors star now has 162 technical fouls, 17 ejections and four suspensions in his 11-year NBA career.
Wojnarowski reported that NBA investigators interviewed Green, Sabonis and others Tuesday, and gave their report to Dumars, who determined the punishment. Dumars also said Green's "not helpful" taunting of Kings fans after the incident and Sabonis' sternum contusion injury also factored in his decision.
The Warriors might not like Dumars’ reasoning, but what’s done is done. Now, they must win without Green and keep their playoff hearts beating.
