I’m sure by now everyone has seen the clip of Draymond Green stepping on Domantas Sabonis, ultimately resulting in his ejection from game two of the Kings-Warriors series. Obviously, Draymond has a long history of heated technicals and over-the-top flagrants, so this doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Whether it’s kicking Steven Adams in the balls or punching Jordan Poole in the face, his reputation precedes him. With all that being said, something just doesn’t seem right about his suspension for an extremely pivotal game three on Thursday.
Joe Dumars, executive vice president of the NBA, specifically cites that Draymond’s history as a “repeat offender” was a major influence in his suspension for game three. While I don’t think he should walk away scot-free, I feel as though NBA fans are getting robbed of a potentially outstanding series with Draymond’s suspension. Especially after seeing some alternate angles pop up on Twitter, I’m not entirely sure that Sabonis was just cruelly stomped on.
From this view, it appears that Sabonis locks Draymond’s ankle so he is unable to step over him, ultimately resulting in the stomp. Clearly, this Twitter account (warriorsworld) is heavily biased toward Golden State, but I don’t think that makes this point any less valid. Draymond might be dirty at times, but Sabonis also flops like Dillon Brooks at Oregon. I want the Kings to win this series as much as anybody – and I hate to support a cheap shot like Green – but I genuinely believe this suspension is completely unfair. Suspensions should be objectively determined on a case-by-case basis, rather than allowing prior incidents to lead to a decision. Hopefully, Steph and the Warriors can defend home court in game three so we can continue on with this amazing series, but the Kings definitely smell blood in the water.
*Information for this article was obtained from Adrian Wojnarowski and ESPN*
