Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said on today’s episode of the Draymond Green Show that NBA commissioner Adam Silver talked him out of retiring.
“I told him, ‘Adam this is too much for me. … This is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire,'” Green said. “And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.’
“We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
Related: Why the Warriors supported Draymond Green during suspension
On the episode, Green said that the incident with Jusuf Nurkic, “I was wrong.” Green went on to say that he’s a guy “who has walked right over that line,” on more than one occasion.
Green added that after the incident with Nurkic, he sat in his man cave for two days and the only person who knew he was home was his wife, “my kids didn’t know I was home,” he said. He said his 3-year-old found out when she face-timed him.
Green said that was the day he decided he needed to change and started working on the help he needed and a way to get back to the NBA. He said Warriors coach Steve Kerr came to visit and both cried about what was going on.
Green said that “interestingly enough, the world thinks I’m the same Draymond as I was in 2017,” and he hasn’t always shown how much he has changed and grown.
Green is scheduled to rejoin the Golden State Warriors
Green was suspended for taking a swing at Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns, and he was suspended earlier in the season for putting Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. He addressed both incidents on the show, and admitted they were wrong. He has been suspended six times in his career.
This season, Green has played in 15 games because of the two suspensions and is averaging 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
In a statement announcing his reinstatement, the NBA said Green “completed steps that demonstrated his commitment to conforming his conduct to standards expected of NBA players. He has engaged in meetings with a counselor and has met jointly on multiple occasions with representatives of the NBA, the Warriors, and the National Basketball Players Association, both of which will continue throughout the season.”