It was at the Warriors' Parade following their first NBA Championship in 2015, at a gathering of players and fans, that I told Draymond Green how much I appreciated his game, that what he was doing for the team, the D, the hustle points, the boards, the passing, reminded me of what I was asked to do for the Warriors when I played in the Sixties. Draymond's super-star was and still is Steph Curry; mine was Rick Barry. We deferred to them. We found other ways to help the team.
Draymond's reaction to my praise was polite. He might have known who I was, but then again. . . My jersey hangs in the rafters of Chase Center. The Warriors are home to me in The City--where I grew up. In retirement I've become a fan. These Dubs have made my old age sparkle. I identifed with Draymond. I did, even when he foolishly fell for Lebron's disrespectful walk-over and struck Lebron in the cajónes. That spontaneous move cost the Warriors the Championship and the historical achievement of four NBA Championships in a row.
I cut Draymond slack for that because as a young player I might very well have done the same thing. Since then, I have cut Draymond Green a lot of slack for his emotional outbursts, tech fouls and suspensions because, yes, Meschery might have done the same thing. I led the league a couple of times in personal fouls and got into a number of on-court brawls. I even tried punching Wilt Chamberlain once, much to the humor of the fans watching at my flailing attempts that never quite reached Wilt's jaw.
Basketball was a different game back then. Fights or thrown elbows, or close-line takedowns on drives were often overlooked. Suck it up, get back in the game, or put up your fists and get it on. The fines were miniscule. Worth every penny if I landed a good one on Clyde Lovelette. Today, the way players fly through the air, the NBA is absolutely right enforcing flagrant fouls, with huge fines and suspensions. Players dropping from such heights could die.
I use the examples of the "old days" because Coach Kerr alluded to them, comparing Draymond's actions on the court in the early stages of his career to no more than what went on for most of the pre-21st century NBA. I get it, and I suspect any NBA coach who played or coached back then understands what Steve Kerr was talking about. In those days, before the league suspended a player, a terrible foul had to be committed.. I'm thinking of the punch suffered by Rudy Tomjanovich that shattered his face.
For the league, and particularly Joe Dumars (A member of the most notorious PISTONS' "Bad Boys") to state that the accumulations of bad behavior is at the root of Draymond's recent suspensions is HYPOCRITICAL. That said, this current, particular lengthy suspension is based on Draymond's past action; not the past-perfect ones, but the ones that began with him punching his teammate Jordan Poole in practice, followed by the "Stomp," the "Chokehold" and finally the whirling backhand punch to Nurkic's head.
It would be fair to say that all the earlier violence prior to "The Punch" were symptoms of a progressive increase in violence. Fair, but that was not my experience. Like Draymond, I was called upon to be the "enforcer." But unlike Draymond, there was a limit to my aggression, as there were to the aggression of other so called "enforcers."
Unfortunately, Draymond's lack of control is, to my way of thinking, a sign of a serious anger-management problem, one that as a retired teacher I saw plenty of teaching high school. Sadly, for the Warriors, it is my experience there is only one way to treat such behavior and that is as mental illness.
Draymond needs long-term counseling. The length of that counseling must be determined by professionals, not by the team. The Warriors may have to lose Draymond for this season. For his own welfare, and I dare say for their own. In the state Draymond is today, he is no value to the team. Allowing him to play after only a brief suspension with lack of adequate counseling, Draymond will only cause more team chaos. It is sad and at the same time, it is the reality.
For my closing poem, here is a Haiku.
ROOKIE TROUGH THE WINDOW
Outside seated on a branch
Watching him practice.
