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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Bryan Kalbrosky

Adam Silver’s longest NBA on-court suspensions, including Draymond Green

Since taking over for David Stern, commissioner Adam Silver has not issued suspensions as often or for as long. But some still stand out.

Even though Silver does not have much reputation as a disciplinarian as the NBA’s commissioner, there are a few moments that have required him to be a bit more strict than usual.

While there are unfortunately several off-court incidents that have needed attention from Silver, it is rare that something that has happened during an actual game has led to a player receiving forced time away from the team.

But the recent suspension of Golden State’s Draymond Green for his violent chokehold of Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert led us to wonder how this compares to other on-court suspensions Silver has issued.

According to research from For The Win, per Spotrac, the NBA has now issued 15 multi-game suspensions for on-court incidents since Silver took over as league commissioner in 2014.

Based on what we found, here is what caused each of the suspensions:

1
Draymond Green (5 games)

(AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

DATE: 11/15/2023

REASON: Escalating on-court altercation during MIN-GSW

RELATED: Draymond Green received the longest suspension of his career for choking Rudy Gobert

2
Brandon Ingram (4 games)

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

DATE: 10/21/2018

REASON: Fighting during HOU-LAL

RELATED: Brandon Ingram on Lakers-Rockets fight: I ‘stepped up for my teammates’

3
Austin Rivers (3 games)

(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

DATE: 02/04/2023

REASON: On-court altercation during ORL-MIN

RELATED: Magic rookie Kevon Harris revealed what Mo Bamba really said to Austin Rivers before they fought

4
Killian Hayes (3 games)

SportsCenter

DATE: 12/29/2022

REASON: on-court altercation during ORL-DET

RELATED: Mo Wagner was punched in the back of the head and then ejected after pushing Killian Hayes

5
Patrick Beverley (3 games)

Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic

DATE: 11/25/2022

REASON: For shoving Deandre Ayton from behind during LAL-PHX

RELATED: Patrick Beverley knew he would be ejected for shoving Deandre Ayton, so he left before the refs told him

6
Serge Ibaka (3 games)

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

DATE: 03/12/2019

REASON: On-court altercation during TOR-CLE

RELATED: Serge Ibaka grabbed a Cavs player by throat and then somehow missed KO punch

7
Rajon Rondo (3 games)

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

DATE: 10/21/2018

REASON: Fighting during HOU-LAL

RELATED: New footage emerges showing Rajon Rondo’s apparent spit at Chris Paul

8
Moritz Wagner (2 games)

DATE: 12/29/2022

REASON: On-court altercation during ORL-DET

9
Isaiah Stewart (2 games)

(Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

DATE: 11/22/2021

REASON: Escalating on-court altercation during LAL-DET

RE:ATED: A bleeding Isaiah Stewart tried to fight LeBron James after taking a hit to the face

10
Isaiah Thomas (2 games)

DATE: 12/22/2019

REASON: Entering stands during WAS-PHI

RELATED: Isaiah Thomas details confrontation with 76ers fan in stands

11
Joel Embiid (2 games)

(Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

DATE: 10/31/2019

REASON: Fighting during MIN-PHI

RELATED: Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns took their vicious fight to social media

12
Karl-Anthony Towns (2 games)

DATE: 10/31/2019

REASON: Fighting during MIN-PHI

13
Chris Paul (2 games)

DATE: 10/21/2018

REASON: Fighting during HOU-LAL

RELATED: An annotated look at the crazy Lakers-Rockets brawl

14
Arron Afflalo

(AP Photo/John Raoux)

DATE: 01/17/2018

REASON: Throwing punch during ORL-MIN

RELATED: Arron Afflalo put in a headlock after taking a wild swing at Timberwolves’ Nemanja Bjelica

15
J.R. Smith (2 games)

DATE: 04/27/2015

REASON: Altercation during CLE-BOS (playoffs)

RELATED: J.R. Smith ejected for hitting Jae Crowder as Cavaliers-Celtics game turns ugly

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