Stephen A. Smith reacts to Draymond Green's suspension: "Indefinite" term raises questions

Draymond Green has been in the spotlight over the past nine months for the wrong reasons. He has been suspended four times during that span. No one in the NBA has come within a mile of the controversies he has caused. Many thought that he would be on his best behavior after serving a five-game suspension for choking Rudy Gobert.

Unfortunately for the Golden State Warriors, the Gobert incident didn’t stop him from doing more. On Tuesday night, he was back at it again when he smacked Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic. Green was promptly tossed out of the game. The NBA quickly followed it up by indefinitely suspending him.

Stephen A. Smith, on his podcast, had this to say about the punishment the league handed down on Draymond Green:

(3:34 mark)

“I knew he was gonna get suspended. That was not a surprise. What took me aback was the word ‘indefinite.’ When you say it’s indefinite, there’s no definitive number of games that you’re out. You’re out until you’re deemed better and suitable to return to work.

"That is not left to the discretion of the team that you play for, the owner that you play for. It’s left to the discretion of the league, mainly that of Commissioner Adam Silver and Executive VP and Head of Basketball Operations Mr. Joe Dumars.”

The “indefinite” part of the suspension will stay until Green meets “certain league and team conditions.” Joe Dumars had this to say about how they came up with the punishment for the four-time champ:

"We want to see you at your best, and the best way for you to do that is to get yourself mentally and emotionally back to where you need to be. That's how we got to indefinite."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr told the media after the Gobert choke that Green’s actions were inexcusable and that the suspension was well-deserved. Many are speculating, though, that Golden State has already lost all leverage to punish Green. The team’s failure to hold him accountable for punching former teammate Jordan Poole has put the Warriors in an unenviable position.

Stephen A. Smith is also worried about the money Draymond Green will lose for the indefinite suspension. “Dray” will be docked $153,941 per game if the suspension is fewer than 20 games. If he is shelved for more than that, the penalty will increase to $202,922 per game. This season alone, he has already forfeited over $700K after choking Rudy Gobert.

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Stephen A. Smith claims that comments by Jusuf Nurkic and Kevin Durant were the last straw that led to Draymond Green’s indefinite suspension

Jusuf Nurkic’s comments after Draymond Green smacked him were telling. He told the media that he didn’t know what was going on with the former NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner. Nurkic added that he could only hope his opponent gets the right help.

For Smith, he knew right there and then that Green was done. The ESPN sports talk show host added:

(13:15 mark)

“For Kevin Durant to follow up by saying, ‘I hope he gets the help he needs.’ It’s a big deal. … His career is in jeopardy. How many chances do you think Draymond Green is gonna get?”

Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were teammates for a few years at Golden State. They also had their share of public and private spats. Durant’s comments were even more eye-opening since he played alongside Green for some time.