Steve Kerr agrees to sanction Draymond Green: ‘It was too much and he knows it’

Steve Kerr said Draymond Green was “wrong” and “went too far” when he pinned Rudy Gobert.

The Golden State Warriors coach has no hesitation in admitting that he thought the five-game suspension for his star defender was warranted. “Draymond made a mistake,” Kerr said Thursday before the Warriors’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA cited Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike conduct” in deciding the time, saying, “He knows it. He looked bad. Five games is a given.” The incident occurred before two minutes had passed in the first quarter of Tuesday’s final game. Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Minnesota’s Jayden McDaniels pushed each other near midcourt after the Timberwolves gained possession, and Green hit Frenchman in the neck in an “unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner.” Before he could go for a shot, Gobert intervened and grabbed Thompson.

“He definitely went too far,” Kerr said. “I had no problem with him taking Rudy away from Clay because the general rule is you don’t mess with players on other teams…but he has to let go. He held on for six, seven seconds.” And that was a terrible image for the league, for Draymond, for everyone. ”

Thompson, McDaniels, and Gobert were also penalized for their appearances and were each fined $25,000 by the league, but it was Green who would pay the highest price in both missed games and money lost, with his salary lost due to his suspension. As a result, $769,704 would be lost.

“Draymond has to find a way to not cross the line,” Kerr said. “I’m not talking about an ejection or anything technical. I’m talking about an act of physical violence. I mean, that’s inexcusable. We’re going to give him the help and assistance that he needs. We must do everything we can to help.”