The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, and all anyone is talking about is Draymond Green’s kick to the groin of Steven Adams. The NBA is expected to hand down a ruling on whether or not Green will be suspended by the end of the day. Until then, all we can do is speculate. Green gave his side of the story on Monday morning in a new diary entry with The Undefeated‘s Marc Spears, where he reiterated that he didn’t do it on purpose:
I would tell [Adams], ‘My bad. I didn’t try to do something like that.’ Honestly, I wanted to go up to him during the game and say that. But I know what type of competitor he is and I think I know how he would react. If he would have reacted the way I thought he would have reacted, I know what that would have done to me, as well. I just kind of erred on the side of not saying anything and was hopeful I may catch him after the game.
I didn’t intentionally kick him down there. Whether he believes me or not, which I don’t think he will and wouldn’t in the moment, which is why I didn’t say anything. I would definitely apologize and I look forward to apologizing to him, if I see him.
Only one person truly knows whether the kick was intentional, and that’s Green. He says it wasn’t, but intent doesn’t always come into play when deciding punishment. USA Today‘s Sam Amick has details on the process:
Programming note about NBA's process here: it's not just a case of reviewing video & determining whether Draymond Green should be suspended.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) May 23, 2016
The players in question are interviewed (by NBA), and all video angles are reviewed. They'll have info/insight that we're not privy to.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) May 23, 2016
The league’s decision on Green will have wide-ranging implications, and could swing the entire series. Either way, one side will not be happy. If Green is suspended, it makes the Warriors’ path to victory in the series much more difficult. If he gets to play Game 4, there will be no shortage of accusations of preferential treatment, particularly coming one day after Dahntay Jones’ one-game suspension for a similar hit on Bismack Biyombo in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
We’ll find out in a few hours.
