Jusuf Nurkic Still Respects Draymond Green, Has No Hate After Incident – NBC Sports Bay Area and California

Jusuf Nurkic still respects Draymond Green and doesn’t view him differently, even after taking a hit to the face from the Warriors’ veteran forward on Tuesday night.

“I have a lot of respect for him, even before that,” the Phoenix Suns center said before Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at Footprint Center. Duane Rankin of Arizona State). “I still have it. I don’t know what people are going through. It’s not our problem, but he’s an NBA hero to me, and he’s still a Hall of Famer.”

Nurkic also said, “It’s sad to see people going in a bad direction.” “I want him to succeed and remain the Draymond we all know. I have no hard feelings or any hatred towards him.”

Green was ejected in the third quarter of Golden State’s 119-116 loss to Phoenix after officials assessed him with a flagrant 2 foul for swinging at Nurkic and striking him in the face on an inbounds play.

Green confirmed after the game that he did not intend to hit Nurkic. Instead, he thought the big Sun man was grabbing his hip, and Green said he was just trying to sell a foul call. Green also said he apologized to Nurkic.

Green has been ejected from the game three times this season.

“What’s going on with him? I don’t know,” Nurkic said after Tuesday’s game. “This brother needs help. I’m glad he didn’t try to choke me. But at the same time, it had nothing to do with basketball. I’m just trying to play basketball and they’re out there swinging. . . .

“I think we’ve seen that a lot. I hope everything he’s got in his life gets better.”

Nurkic said the next day that he believed the NBA would “do what’s best for the league and for him.” [Draymond]“In terms of greater discipline. And that happened.

The NBA announced on Wednesday that it had suspended Green indefinitely, noting that the Warriors forward’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” factored into the decision.

Green’s suspension will begin immediately, according to the NBA, and he must meet certain league and team conditions before he can return to play.

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