Warriors forward Draymond Green's two suspensions this season cost him a spot in Team USA's 41-man pool for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Grant Hill, managing director of the USA Basketball men's national team, explained this during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday (h/t Brian Windhorst of ESPN).
“[Green’s] “His contributions have been significant and he is a true part of this organization’s legacy of excellence,” Hill said. “But I think instead of what happened this year, we made the decision not to [Green] In this list with this specific point in time with this process.”
Green, who helped Team USA to gold medals during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has been suspended twice this season for on-court incidents.
The four-time NBA champion was suspended five games in November for placing Minnesota Timberwolves quarterback Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during a skirmish early in the Warriors' loss on Nov. 14 at Chase Center.
A month later, Green was suspended indefinitely after hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic during the Warriors' Dec. 12 loss at Footprint Center. That penalty ended in 12 games, with the four-time NBA star missing an additional four games while he improved in basketball form.
Green began counseling while he was suspended indefinitely, and was not reinstated until the NBA, and the Warriors and commissioner Adam Silver were confident he had learned and grown from the sessions and time spent away from the team.
Green embraced the treatment sessions, spoke to reporters for the first time on January 9, and broke his silence about his suspension and what he was working on to improve his mood.
“One of the best things that happened to me during the procedure was once I got on the phone [with the therapist]He was like 'So what is this?' “I see all the things on the news,” Green said on January 9. “I see everything everyone says. How are you feeling and what are you thinking? Because if you are only here to fulfill some obligation or please some public opinion then you are wasting my time and your time.
“That was the most important thing for me that I was able to hear because that's not why I was there. That was a very important part of me at the beginning of the last four weeks or so for me.”
Hill noted during his comments that allowing Green to focus on himself over the summer rather than playing for Team USA was in the player's best interest.
“We all understand and certainly respect and have great sensitivity to this particular period of his career, as he works on some things on and off the field,” Hill said. “So we at USA Basketball wanted to support him on his journey and we felt that playing over the summer gave him the best opportunity to do what he needed to do.”
Green has played in one game since returning from his suspension — the Warriors' stunning 116-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 15. Golden State has not played since that night after assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died last Wednesday after suffering an injury. A heart attack at a team dinner in Salt Lake City, Utah, the night before.
The Green Warriors return to action against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at Chase Center.
Although Green is not part of the 41-man Team USA squad, teammate Steph Curry is. Coach Steve Kerr will lead the final 12-player roster to Paris before stepping aside so a new coach can take over at the helm of Team USA.
By the time the 2028 Summer Olympics roll around, Green will be 38 and nearing the end of his NBA career, so this will very likely be his last chance to win a third gold medal.
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