Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green was arrested for assault on Sunday in East Lansing, Michigan, according to MLive’s Brendan F. Quinn.
Details of the 26-year-old’s arrest aren’t immediately available, and the local police department elected against naming Green as the specific perpetrator. Oddly, however, a spokesman for the East Lansing PD confirmed that a professional basketball player was taken into custody.
“The police department is not confirming any arrest with that name,” said Lt. Scott Wrigglesworth, the East Lansing police department Public Information Officer. “What I can confirm is that we did arrest a current NBA basketball player this weekend and he was arrested for assault. That’s all we’re confirming right now.”
A request for comment by MLive was not immediately returned.
The Warriors released the following statement after learning of Green’s arrest.
We are aware of news involving Draymond Green in Michigan over the weekend. At this point, we are collecting information and will have no further comment until we have a better understanding of the situation.
A graduate of East Lansing’s Michigan State University and proud native of nearby Saginaw, Green has become one of the Great Lakes State’s most famous professional athletes since rising to prominence with Golden State over the past three years. The two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year runner up helped the Warriors to a championship in 2014-15 and historic 73-9 record this past season before they were beaten by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, a contest in which he scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and doled-out nine assists.
Green came under intense scrutiny throughout Golden State’s most recent playoff run for what many league followers deemed dirty play. He missed Game 5 of the Finals after accruing enough flagrant foul points to warrant an automatic one-game suspension from the league office. Shortly thereafter, Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo defended his former player’s reputation on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike.
“That’s who [Green] is, that’s his DNA,” Izzo said. “He’s not a necessarily a street fighter, he’s not a thug. He is a guy that plays with incredible passion, incredible toughness, and winning is important.”
Green was recently selected to play for Team USA at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When contacted by Sam Amick of USA Today, program director Jerry Colangelo said he was unaware of Green’s arrest.
Team USA head Jerry Colangelo was not aware of the Draymond Green arrest for assault reported by @mlive – no comment until he learns more.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 11, 2016
UPDATE:
Multiple tweets have Draymond at a popular East Lansing college bar, Ricks.
Chillin with Draymond Green at Ricks
— Jordan (@DjHerro44) July 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/kmillz5/status/751640992701353984
Yo I swear to god I'm at the same bar as Draymond Green right now 😂😂😂, literally 10 feet from me
— Toney Kleem (@TKleem20) July 9, 2016
This tweet mentions the night before the alleged assault occurred.
saw him get in a scuffle Friday night on the ricks steps at close
— C. E. Cheese (@TonyFromCollege) July 11, 2016
According to another person on Twitter, it seems like Dray was at a wedding earlier in the evening on Saturday, where he posed for photos with the bride and groom.
I saw him at a wedding reception Saturday night at Eagle Eye Golf Club as well.
— Jeremy, smile like you mean it (@Mr__Jeremy) July 11, 2016
He seemed fine when I saw him. He took photos with the bride and groom of the reception I was at. He was at one next door.
— Jeremy, smile like you mean it (@Mr__Jeremy) July 11, 2016
The altercation in question happened later that Saturday night, Sunday morning.
UPDATE 2:
Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN reached out to the East Lansing Police Department about the incident with Green:
“We are confirming that Draymond Green was arrested for assault in our downtown business district early Sunday morning at around 2:30AM. The victim was a male. It was basically an altercation between two guys. There’s no injuries. He was released with a 200 dollar bond on Sunday. And he’s got 10 days to get arraigned and then prosecution will continue from there.”
Police confirm that the establishment where the altercation occurred was Conrad’s Grill in East Lansing.
Another Twitter user confirmed what the police told Strauss about the bar he was at when it went down:
He was at Conrad's at 2am, this probably happened after Ricks.
— Jonathan Barry (@BarryJonathan) July 11, 2016
UPDATE 3:
More confirmation of the time he was arrested early Sunday morning, and when he’s scheduled to be arraigned (July 20).
https://twitter.com/WerlySportsLaw/status/752551769218121729
UPDATE 4:
One Twitter user, @517partystories whose bio reads “Home of MSU Spartans and America’s Drunkest College Students! Send us your party pics and we’ll post them every day,” claims to Draymond was provoked into the fight that ultimately led to his arrest, and it wasn’t his fault:
https://twitter.com/517partystories/status/752549459033255936
They also allege they have video of the incident, which they’ll release if it helps Green:
https://twitter.com/517partystories/status/752549978493554688
https://twitter.com/517partystories/status/752555883821805568
We’ll keep you updated on this developing situation as additional news becomes available.
(MLive)
