Everyone has an opinion about Draymond Green’s suspension for Monday night’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The suspension was the result of his groin swipe at LeBron James following James’ step-over in Game 4. Even though the Golden State Warriors are up 3-1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Green’s suspension changes the dynamics of the series. Stephen Jackson, for one, isn’t happy about it, and posted a video on Instagram announcing that he would be wearing Green’s jersey to the game at Oracle Arena to protest the decision.
Here’s what Jackson said:
On my way to the airport, headed to Oakland. I see they suspended Draymond, huh? Y’all know I love the bad guys, man. I can’t believe they did that. Guess I’ll be rocking his jersey to the game tomorrow. I always love the bad guys. No blood was drawn, nobody got hurt. You wait until the Finals to suspend him, after all the other stuff that happened? Yeah, alright. I’m rocking with the bad guy on this one, though.
Jackson, like everyone else with this complaint, is only half-right about the “waiting until the Finals” part. Green wasn’t suspended specifically for the hit on James, or for any judgment by the NBA that it was better or worse than what he did to Steven Adams in the Western Conference Finals. He was assessed a Flagrant 2 for that hit, putting him at the limit for flagrant foul points before he triggered an automatic suspension. Green knew that was in play, and the retroactive Flagrant 1 against James in Game 4 put him over. It was a culmination, not a punishment for one incident.
Still, if Jackson keeps his word and wears Green’s jersey to the game, maybe he can take Green’s place in the trophy presentation if the Warriors close out the Cavs. That would be a fun wrinkle to what has already been a drama-filled Finals.
