Warriors forward Draymond Green was ejected from Tuesday night’s game against the Suns for committing a Flagrant 2 foul that will likely land him in hot water with the NBA league office once again.
Early in the third quarter of the game between the Western Conference foes, Green was jostling for position on an inbounds pass with Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkić. Green was originally facing away from Nurkić while trying to post up but appeared to grow frustrated with being unable to break free.
As a result, he turned around and seemed to take a full-arm swing with his right arm, connecting with Nurkić’s face. The Suns center fell to the ground as Green stumbled away before quickly getting assessed a Flagrant 2 foul.
Draymond Green has been ejected after striking Jusuf Nurkić
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 13, 2023
(via @TSN_Sports)pic.twitter.com/iGc4HUkIAD
Draymond Green 😳 pic.twitter.com/sj53bexwtj
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) December 13, 2023
Green left the game with 8:23 remaining in the third quarter and the Warriors leading 65–60.
Not only is this the latest incident involving Green, a player that’s developed a bit of a reputation for ejection-worthy offenses, but it’s the second time in less than a month that he’s been booted from a game. In mid-November, the 33-year-old was ejected for putting Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold while trying to break up a scuffle between Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels.
He was later suspended for five games for the incident.
While Green has spent a significant portion of the early season unavailable, Golden State has struggled to keep pace with the Western Conference elite. Going into Tuesday night’s game, the Warriors were 10–12, sitting in 11th in the conference standings.