National Basketball Association

Warriors' Draymond Green says Adam Silver talked him out of retirement during suspension

Updated Jan. 8, 2024 3:53 p.m. ET

Draymond Green nearly turned his indefinite suspension by the NBA into a permanent leave from the sport.

The Warriors' star forward shared that he was thinking of retiring from the NBA during his recent suspension before commissioner Adam Silver spoke him out of it.

"I told him, 'Adam this is too much for me. ... This is too much. It's all becoming too much for me — and I'm going to retire,'" Green said as he recalled his conversation with Silver on the most recent episode of "The Draymond Green Show." "And Adam said, 'You're making a very rash decision and I won't let you do that.' I'm like, ‘No, Adam. I’m not really sure it's a rash decision. It's just all too much.'

"We had a long, great conversation —very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam, who's more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He's more about the players."

Green received an indefinite suspension from the NBA on Dec. 13, a day after he struck Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face. He received a Flagrant 2 foul for the play, which was his third ejection from a game this season. The incident occurred two weeks after he returned from a five-game suspension for putting Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a choke hold.

The NBA reinstated Green from the suspension on Saturday, but he missed his 13th consecutive game on Sunday as he ramps up to return to action. As part of the terms of Green's reinstatement, he was "required to meet certain league and team conditions" in order to return to play. Following an initial meeting with the league, which included his agent and Warriors officials, Green began counseling.

Green remarked that "a lot" has happened over the time of his indefinite suspension, calling it an "eye-opening experience." But he also recognized that he isn't suddenly "great" after three weeks of therapy, adding that he still has "a lot of things to work on." Green said he's enjoying that work though and is happy to have gone through it.

Green also apologized for his role in the incident with Nurkic on his podcast. He shared that he spoke with former Warriors general manager Bob Meyers multiple times per day in the first several days of his indefinite suspension, while also having an emotional moment with Steve Kerr early on in his leave.

"Coach Kerr came to visit me after shootaround. We sat in the yard — he cried, I cried," Green said. "There's a bond there that's seen it all, in the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. He just said to me, ‘I want you to end this the right way. I want us to end this the right way. You’re not doing that right. So, I want you to do what you have to do to get in the space to where you can do that and where we can do that.'"

During that conversation, Green said that Kerr was happy to see his apology to Nurkic in the immediate aftermath of the incident, telling Green that it was different from his other apologies as there was no "but" in this one.

Green said that conversation was the impetus that helped him move forward, saying he let the Warriors and the NBA down. He also apologized to Steph Curry because of pundits questioning the point guard's leadership ability due to Green's actions.

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"It pissed me off, but it crushed me," Green said of the criticism of Curry. "It crushed me because how is Steph enduring being a bad leader? Like this guy doesn't give us anything to tear him down about. This guy does everything the right way, and yet he's being torn down because of my actions? It crushed me. That was a tough blow to deal with.

"And because he got crushed publicly for that, I'm going to apologize publicly," Green added, saying he spoke with Curry every day. "I sincerely apologize to Steph for my actions because that was a tough pill to swallow."

The Warriors have gone 7-6 in the 13 games Green has missed, but are 17-19 and sit a half-game back of the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.

Green, who played a pivotal role in the Warriors' run to four titles over the previous nine seasons, re-signed with the team on a four-year, $100 million deal this past offseason following speculation of a possible breakup. The suspension has cost Green 13 game checks of $153,941 thus far.

Green is averaging 9.7 points per game this season, but his 5.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game are the lowest he's averaged since Steve Kerr became the Warriors' head coach in the 2014-15 season.

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