Why Warriors' Draymond Green should be suspended for latest NBA playoffs

 

Two stomps took place at the Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center on Monday.

Golden State’s Draymond Green stomped on the chest of Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis after Sabonis grabbed Green’s leg, and then the Kings stomped the Warriors 114-106 for a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.

First, the game. The younger, faster Kings are too much right now for the older, slower, mistake-prone Warriors. Let’s see what happens in the next two games at Golden State’s Chase Center, but the Kings are proving capable of a run into late May and possibly June.

Second, Green. With 7:05 left in the fourth quarter and the Kings leading 91-87, Green stomped on Sabonis’ chest after Sacramento’s Malik Monk missed a shot. Sabonis fell to the court, and as Green tried to run back on offense, Sabonis grabbed Green’s right leg. As Green broke free, he thrust his foot into Sabonis’ chest.

Green should be suspended for Game 3 in San Francisco, and the Warriors – the defending NBA champions – should prepare to play another playoff game without him.

Green was ejected, and Sabonis was issued a technical foul. Green tried pleading his case in-game with referees and after the game with reporters.

"My leg got grabbed, second time in two nights," he said. "Referees just watch it. I’ve got to land my foot somewhere, and I'm not the most flexible person so it's not stretching that far. I can only step so far and pulling my leg away, so it is what it is. 

"The explanation (from the referee) was I stomped too hard."

(The two were involved in a minor entanglement late in Game 1 that the NBA said should have been a foul on both players because they prevented each other from disengaging.)

The NBA’s basketball operations department, led by former Detroit Pistons player and longtime team executive Joe Dumars, will investigate the Game 2 incident with video review and interviews. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance and had a prime seat to witness the altercation.