Subscribe
Follow Us
The Golden State Warriors haven't exactly been firing on all cylinders to start the new campaign, posting an 8-9 record through their first 17 games. Not helping matters was the fact that Draymond Green picked up a five-game suspension for choking out Rudy Gobert in a contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Green's suspension is up, but that didn't stop Steve Kerr from raising a valid concern in regards to the NBA's new in-season tournament.
The Warriors grinded out a 118-112 victory over the San Antonio Spurs to keep themselves in the tournament heading into their final group game, but they did so without Green, who served the fifth game of his suspension. Considering how the suspension for Green came during a regular season matchup, Kerr wanted to see if the NBA would differentiate suspensions between the regular season and in-season tournament contests.
"That's something that we'll maybe take to the league for next year."
Steve Kerr on the NBA counting in regular season player suspensions on In-Season Tournament games.
(via @NBCSWarriors) pic.twitter.com/giNxs7U67d
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 25, 2023
This is an interesting proposition from Steve Kerr, because Draymond Green technically didn't pick up his suspension in the in-season tournament. And since the NBA is pushing this tournament and trying to make it relevant, wouldn't they want the best players in the game on the floor for these games? Green was suspended, yes, but there's an argument that maybe he should have been eligible for their win over the Spurs.
Of course, the in-season tournament games also count towards the regular season standings, so it is still technically a regular season game. Kerr makes a valid argument for Green to have played in this game, but chances are the NBA would shoot this argument down, even if it would actually benefit their tournament in the long run.
