Golden State Warriors All-Star Draymond Green missed his team’s Game 5 outing against the Cleveland Cavaliers after being suspended for accumulating too many flagrant fouls during the playoffs.
Not only this, Green was not allowed in the arena during the game, a game that ended in a Cavaliers win to extend the Finals to Thursday night in Cleveland.
Speaking up about the suspension for the first time, the always candid Green had a lot to say.
“Me not being on the floor to battle with my guys is being a bad teammate,” Green said, via ESPN’s Marc Spears. “I need to be a better leader of this team.”
Green went on to indicate that he truly believes the Warriors would have won the game if he had not been suspended for making contact with LeBron James’ groin area the game before.
Instead of being with his team as it looked to close out the Finals for the second consecutive season, Green was forced to watch it from a luxury box at the Oakland Athletics game across the parking lot. He was joined by former NFL player Marshawn Lynch and Warriors general manager Bob Myers in the suite.
Green had this to say about that experience.
“It was brutal, it was one of the weirdest days ever,” the All-Star admitted, via Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet. “My emotions were all over the place.”
Though, it wasn’t all bad for Green. He admitted seeing the Warriors general manager sitting with him in the box instead of being in the arena with the team looking to win its second title made Green feel like he wanted to “be a Warrior forever.”
Green will return to action Thursday night in Cleveland with the Warriors attempting to close out the Cavaliers in six games for the second consecutive season. He will do so with teammate Andrew Bogut sidelined with a knee injury.
This is eerily similar to the situation in the Finals last season. Bogut was benched for Game 6 in Cleveland, at which point Green put up a triple-double en route to leading the Warriors to a series-clinching win.
Needless to say, Green will be more than ready for this one.