SAN FRANCISCO – Back at practice on Jan 9 for the first time since his 12-game suspension, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said he is confident he can alter his ways and help the team turn their National Basketball Association (NBA) season around.
The 33-year-old was suspended indefinitely after taking a swing at Phoenix Suns centre Jusuf Nurkic’s head in December. He had previously been suspended for five games in November for putting Minnesota Timberwolves centre Rudy Gobert in a headlock.
“When I look back at these situations, it’s like, ‘Can I remove the antics?’ and I am very confident I can remove the antics,” Green said.
“And I am very confident if I do, no one is worried about how I play the game of basketball (or) how I carry myself in the game of basketball. It’s the antics. That’s the focus. It’s not changing who I am completely. You don’t change the spots on a leopard.
“I’m not going to set an unrealistic set of expectations. Can I accept that my antics have been over the top? Of course. Can I remove them? Of course.”
Green will participate in all practice and scrimmage sessions this week, though no date has been set for his return to action.
“If it were up to me, I would love to come back and play right now,” he said.
“I’ve cost my team enough. I’ve cost this organisation enough. It’s not a time for me to just... take my time and get back when I can. No, like, you caused this yourself. You don’t get the grace.”
He added: “I didn’t touch a basketball for first 10 days and then I started working again.
“It felt good to get back in the gym after I sat with some of my thoughts. It was refreshing to go get a workout. But it didn’t feel like a routine. It didn’t feel like I was jumping back into the revolving door and started back spinning.”
Without Green, Steve Kerr’s Warriors have dropped to 12th in the Western Conference at 17-19. While the coach is glad to have Green back, it does not mean things will go back to normal right away.
“I’m just open-minded,” Kerr said.
“He’s still obviously a huge part of this thing and a huge part of our leadership. He is going to reassume that mantle. But he needs the awareness that comes with what he’s just gone through and what he has put the team through.”
Green, who in his 12th season has averaged 9.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 15 games, also said his self-reflection was a result of having time to devote to it, not because the league mandated it.
“Part of the indefinite return was about being in a better space, to allow my mind to process what it looks like to get in a better space,” he said.
REUTERS
