The last time Draymond Green played was on December 12, as he continues to serve his indefinite suspension ever since he hit big man Jusuf Nurkic in the face and received his second ejection of the current 2023/24 NBA season.
Before 2023 came to an end, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said that the league is expecting his suspension to be over after completing a 11-13 game ban and should be eligible to return somewhere around January 5 vs. Pistons and January 10 vs. Pelicans.
In a recent interview with Steve Kerr, the Warriors coach revealed that Draymond is also yet to even return to the team’s facility to work out with the team. This made us understand that the player is not expected to return any time soon.
Tonight will be the 10th game of Draymond Green’s indefinite suspension. Steve Kerr said Green still hasn’t been in the facility. They’ve had some text communication. But no next step update as of now.
“We’ve been giving him his space, he’s been giving us ours.” pic.twitter.com/NMsOfKrSMV
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 3, 2024
When asked about if he’s kept contact with the veteran forward, Kerr said they’ve been giving each other space. “A little bit. We text. But we’ve been giving him his space, and he’s been giving us ours,” he shared.
The Bay Area coach was then asked how long he considers the player will need in order to get back into playing shape, he said: “Not sure.”
After Golden State lost to Dallas at the start of the week, Kerr confessed he liked what he saw on the court and was expecting the team to repeat the same starting lineup. Against the Mavericks, he played with Trayce-Jackson Davis and Chris Paul into the first five, replacing Kevon Looney and Brandin Podziemski.
“We’re looking for a boost defensively. The last couple weeks with that starting group, the defensive numbers really weren’t great… We were looking for better defense from the start, and wanted to get Steph more involved as well. We felt like getting Chris on the floor would maybe unlock Steph a little bit,” he said.
Unfortunately, the team has no update on the severity of Gary Payton II’s injury that he suffered after missing out on an entire month with a calf issue.
“I feel bad for him more than anything,” Kerr shared. “Feel bad for us too, but mainly for him. He’s been out four or five weeks. He worked hard to get back to this point. He…