The most brutal player ever in the NBA

Draymond Green has already spent his entire career somewhere between genius and madness, amassing titles, trophies and offenses in equal measure. But a series of brutal outbursts has now put the league on notice. It is perhaps the last chance for improvement.

Draymond Green had done it again. The "biggest asshole in the NBA", as many of his contemporaries call the Golden State Warriors' power forward, had once again gone on a brutal rampage on the court. The frustration and resignation of his coaches and teammates during and after the action spoke volumes. They've been through this so often in Golden State that there's not much left apart from empty phrases and mantras: "We need him. We need Draymond," his coach pleaded almost hopelessly at the press conference in the direction of his own player. "He knows that. We've spoken to him. He has to find a way to keep his composure and be there for his teammates."

In mid-December, in the third quarter of the game against the Phoenix Suns, Green had jostled for position against Jusuf Nurkic before, demonstratively waving his arms around, he hit the Bosnian in the face with a wild roundhouse kick and sent him to the floor. The referees' investigation did not take long and Green was sent off, the third time in just 15 appearances this season. With 20 disqualifications in his career, Green ranks second on the all-time "best list"; only the notorious Rasheed Wallace has had more in his career (29).

This was the umpteenth time that the key player of the four-time champions had attracted attention due to an excessively harsh action. Green has spent his entire professional career walking the fine line between aggression and brutality, between genius and madness. However, an escalating series of increasingly nasty lapses over the past 14 months has now brought the league onto the scene after his club failed for a long time to curb the offenses and put a decisive stop to the matter.

"I can't aim that well"

Green did apologize to Nurkic at the press conference after the Suns game - "You know I never apologize for things I meant to do, but I apologize to Jusuf because I really didn't mean to hit him. I can't aim that well. I just wanted to sell a foul" - but the NBA had long since seen enough. They suspended the 33-year-old for the second time this season, just six games after he had already been suspended for five games weeks ago. Back then, Green shocked Rudy Gobert with a chokehold, dragging the 2.16-metre, 120-kilogram Frenchman across the floor for several meters and seconds before letting go.

The league took Green's long record of offense as an opportunity to impose a suspension the likes of which had never been imposed before: Open-ended, anything from several weeks to a few months break is possible. Instead of suspending Green for a certain, fixed number of games, as was previously the case, the focus was placed on long-term rehabilitation and preventing relapses into old patterns. "We didn't want to commit to the number of games, but wanted to give him time to identify the cause and correct it. No matter how long it takes," said Joe Dumars, something like the NBA's highest disciplinary authority and once a player himself on the "Bad Boys" Pistons, one of the toughest, most unfair and most feared teams in history.

Green will have to fulfill a number of conditions before he is allowed back on the court. No one knows exactly what those conditions are, but therapy is part of the deal and at least three weeks of rest is inevitable - maybe more. That's a minimum of 12-13 games on the sidelines. "This is about more than basketball," Kerr said after the suspension was announced. "It's about helping Draymond. It's a way for him to get some distance and make some changes in his life. It's not easy, you don't just do that in five games."

Knocking over his own team-mate

The problem with Green is that, unlike in the past, he has long since lost control of his mouth. Once conspicuous for his many grumbles and overly demonstrative gestures, which earned him a series of technical fouls and automatic suspensions, the veteran has become increasingly irascible with age. Unrestrained. Addicted to rage. The loss of control in recent times is more than alarming, the physical integrity of opponents increasingly at risk.

In 2016, Green kicked Oklahoma City's Steven Adams in the soft parts in consecutive playoff games. In the 2016 NBA Finals, he sabotaged the ultimate season of his record-breaking Warriors, who had won an incredible 73 of 82 games that season and had built what should have been a decisive 3-1 lead against LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. In the final phase of the already decided fourth duel, Green punched James in the soft parts and was suspended for game five. Cleveland pulled off a sensational comeback and ultimately triumphed 4:3 to win the title. In 2018, the Warriors themselves suspended him for an altercation with his then teammate Kevin Durant in the middle of a nationally televised game.

A very dark chapter - and the beginning of the end - then occurred before the start of the 2022-23 season. Green and his young teammate Jordan Poole clashed in training, with Poole shoving Green, who knocked the youngster to the ground with a brutal right hand. Unknown persons filmed the altercation and sold it to the US scandal news site TMZ, and Green and the Warriors were subjected to a shitstorm overnight. Golden State dealt with the matter "in-house", sent Green home for a week and fined him. Not much changed. In the 2023 playoffs, he kicked Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings, who was lying on the floor, on the chest and was suspended one game. Then the chokehold against Rudy Gobert at the start of this season, now the roundhouse kick that hit Nurkic in the face...

Actually indispensable for Golden State

Why does a winning franchise like Golden State - itself the most successful dynasty of the past decade, with six Finals appearances, four championships and 537 victories since the 2013-14 season - tolerate a guy who is obviously less and less in control of himself, who carelessly puts the health of his contemporaries and his team's chances of success at risk? Because Draymond Green is one of the best defensemen of all time, an integral part of everything they've put together in Oakland and San Francisco. Without him, his toughness and defensive excellence, no dynasty. He's their backbone, their muscle, their "extra". Without him, the four banners (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) would not hang from the ceiling of the Chase Center.

Green is the most versatile defensive player of the modern era. At just 1.98 meters tall, the power forward has single-handedly changed the way the NBA defends forever. His versatility on the back end is unmatched. No one can check Nikola Jokic at the perimeter and neutralize speedy guards in the half court seconds later like he can. His vision, basketball IQ and anticipation are second to none. It's as if Green's brain is always operating one second ahead and can manipulate all the elements in real time.

Green is also indispensable for Steph Curry. Not only does he have his back, he also reinforces everything that makes the best shooter of all time so dangerous. Their understanding of each other is perfect - an almost psychic connection that translates into improvised moves, blind passes and an intuitive choreography of movement that keeps Golden State's offense rolling. Green remains "Steph's boy," and as long as the franchise player remains loyal to him, the club has no choice but to go with him, too. This summer, Green received a four-year, $100 million contract extension.

Last exit for Draymond and the "Dubs"

The season so far has been a disaster for the Dubs. Many want to blame Green for this. Yet his antics, his increasing flight into violent outbursts of this kind, are merely symptoms of a more complex phenomenon: the inevitable crumbling of a dynasty. The performances are fluctuating more and more, well-known top performers such as Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins are getting on in years and are playing weaker than they have for a long time. The starting line-up is a disaster, Steve Kerr has to rely more on his young bench players in order to pack in any quality alongside Curry - the only star who is delivering his usual performance.

The frustration has grown noticeably for Green, a future Hall of Famer whose genius on the hardwood seems to be swallowed up more and more by his uncouth rawness. His bright story, from shunned second-round pick, to accidental starter during his sophomore season, to All-Defensive ace and four-time champion, is unparalleled. It's the darker side that gives cause for concern. No one knows exactly what is bothering him away from basketball, the club is keeping its usual low profile to protect its player and privacy. But unlike in the past, when respectable teammates like Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston or former president Bob Myers were able to reach him and reassure him, there is now a complete lack of reference persons. No one seems to have a real connection with him anymore - not even Curry.

Two years ago, during Golden State's last championship season to date, the Californians had a record of 24 wins and five losses in mid-December. They finished third in the West and won four straight playoff series, including 16 wins out of 22 games en route to title number four. At the same point this season (December 16), their record was ten wins, 14 losses and eleventh place in the West. That still puts Golden State outside the play-in ranks. No one knows how long Green will be out, whether anything will change, or whether his next outburst could be his last in Warriors gear and in the NBA at all. There are scenarios in which the big man returns reformed and helps the team flip the switch thanks to his fire and focus in the second half of the season. When they're at their best, Green and these Dubs are still capable of running the league into the ground thanks to Curry. The weeks around the turn of the year will be crucial - for Green personally, as well as for these Golden State Warriors as we all knew them.

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Source: www.ntv.de