Draymond Green Criticizes NBA For Not Suspending Jamal Murray
May 24, 2024
‘I think it was absolutely insane that you get a $100,000 fine, no suspension, nothing for throwing a heat pack at an official. Man, I throw a word at an official and they throw me under the jail!’
After the NBA fined Denver Nuggets player Jamal Murray $100,000 with no suspension for hurling a heat pack onto the basketball court during a playoff game, controversial Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had an issue with the punishment.
On a recent episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” Green discussed with Shaquille O’Neal why he has a problem with the league’s ruling. Green, who has a long history of doing things on the court that end up getting him suspended, thinks if he had done the same thing, he would have gotten suspended—perhaps for the remainder of the playoffs.
“I would have gotten suspended for the rest of the playoffs, for sure,” Green told Shaq. He then tells the NBA Hall of Famer that he was suspended in an earlier playoff series when they played against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. He admitted that he tried to strike LeBron James, and due to that action, he “got suspended for trying to make contact.”
But, his issue also lies with no definitive punishment for actions that may warrant such. He states that it goes in any direction and “it’s all over the place.”
“The problem I have oftentimes with the suspensions and different things is like, you don’t know what it is. Sometimes it’s here, sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s in between. It just kind of moves. There is no set, ‘You do this, you get this. You do that, you get that.’ It’s all over the place.”
He then compares the type of punishment he receives without acknowledging that his history typically results in the harshness of the offense committed.
“I think it was absolutely insane that you get a $100,000 fine, no suspension, nothing for throwing a heat pack at an official. Man, I throw a word at an official, and they throw me under the jail!”
Shaq: “[Jamal Murray] throws a heating pack on the court. They fine him 100k.”
Draymond Green: “I would’ve gotten suspended for the rest of the playoffs. I tried to hit [LeBron James] and got suspended from Game 5 of the finals.”🗣️
(via @bigpodwithshaq) pic.twitter.com/88GU4aAhc2
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 22, 2024
In December 2023, the NBA suspended Green indefinitely “for striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face. This outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
The NBA said Green “will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.”
After sitting out 12 games, Green was reinstated on January 6.
