Unsurprisingly, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is living with no regrets in the wake of his chokehold incident on Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert.
Green told reporters on Sunday that he has no regrets and believes his actions back on Nov. 14 were entirely justified regardless of the five-game suspension that he received because of it.
"I don't live my life with regrets," Green said after practice on Sunday. "I'll come to a teammate's defence any time that I'm in a position to come to a teammate's defence."
The incident was a wild one that came only less than two minutes into the game against the Timberwolves. Warriors teammate Klay Thompson and Minnesota wing Jaden McDaniels got into a shoving match early on, with the two grabbing at each other's jerseys. The scene escalated when Gobert tried to put his hands on Thompson to pull him off, prompting Green to rush in and show off some practiced grappling, putting the seven-foot Frenchman in a standing rear naked choke and dragging him.
Sunday was Green's first appearance speaking to the media since being suspended five games for the brawl and wanted to make it clear that what he did, he did out of love.
"What matters to me is how the people that I care about feel, first and foremost," Green said. "How are the people that I care about affected? How are the people I care about, what do they have to deal with? That's it for me."
The Warriors forward also made it clear that he thought the length of the suspension was unfair, saying that the league's policy to take his past actions into account is unwarranted and that he's already paid for those moments.
"To continue mentioning, 'Oh, well, he did this in the past,' I paid for those," Green said. "I got suspended in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. You can't keep suspending me for those actions."
The NBA's press release following the suspension said "The length of the suspension based in part on Green's history of unsportsmanlike acts."
Gobert and Green share a history of getting into altercations, particularly through a war of words on social media and through press conferences. Most recently, following Gobert's ejection from a game last season in which he punched teammate Kyle Anderson, Green tweeted out "Insecurity is always loud," a reference to Gobert's identical tweet after Green punched teammate Jordan Poole at the outset of last season.
However, Green did not elaborate as to whether or not their shared past came into account when putting Gobert into the MMA-style move.
"Things can be interpreted how people want to interpret them, I'm not here to judge people's interpretations or try to change them," Green said. "I know that for me, I am always going to be there for my teammates. That's who I am. That's who I am as a teammate, that's who I am as a friend. ... Right, wrong or indifferent, look to your side and I'll be there — or even in front of you."
Green will be eligible to return for the Warriors for Tuesday's In-Season Tournament game against the Sacramento Kings after missing the team's last five outings. During that stretch, Golden State went 2-3 and currently sits in 10th place in the Western Conference with an 8-9 record.
Coach Steve Kerr said that he won't be under any minute restriction upon his return as he has been able to practise and workout with the team over the course of his suspension.
He is averaging 8.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists this season.
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