SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State coach Steve Kerr didn't confirm a report Thursday that suspended forward Draymond Green is expected to return to the team’s facility soon, while noting that giving Green space away from the team is important for both parties.
ESPN reported that Green is “expected to return” to the Warriors’ facility in the next few days.
“I don’t know that,” Kerr said. “Apparently someone else does, but I don’t.”
Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA three weeks ago, after he was ejected for hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face while the two were jostling for position.
“This was not a sprained ankle, this was not a twisted knee,” Kerr said Thursday before the Warrriors' game against Denver. “This is an issue that Draymond is trying to get help with. So space was important for him and us. We’re trying to win games and he’s trying to put himself in a position to come back.”
Kerr said that Green not being at the facility during his suspension is a non-issue.
“We discussed it, and decided that was the best way to go,” Kerr said.
The league said when handing down the penalty – which was Green’s second suspension of the season – that Green would have to “meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play” and that the indefinite suspension “takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
Green served a five-game suspension earlier this season when he put Minnesota center Rudy Gobert in a headlock during a November game.
The 33-year-old Green received a four-year, $100 million contract extension in June. He also was suspended for a game last postseason when he stepped on the chest of Domantas Sabonis in Game 2 of the first round series against Sacramento.
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