Draymond Green shared a piece of his mind on what’s going on with the Memphis Grizzlies. Sunday, the Grizzlies banned Ja Morant for “conduct detrimental to the team.” According to reports, the suspension stemmed from the comments he made after the team’s 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Although the star guard played 30 minutes, he wasn’t himself and only had eight points.
Following the contest, reporters asked Morant about what happened to him on the court. He wasn’t injured but was simply passive with the ball. The $197 million guard kept his answer short and told the media to ask the coaching staff about it.
In the latest episode of Draymond Green’s podcast, the Warriors forward noticed something was off during the Grizzlies’ game against the Lakers. Even before the suspension was issued, Green revealed on Monday that he sensed something.
“When I saw [Ja’s] comments, I found those interesting,” Green explained, “but all they did was confirm to me what I was watching … and rightfully so, there was something going on.”
“When we got on that plane I was telling Steph, like, ‘Man, Ja ain’t in it at all. It looked like something happened — like, it ain’t Ja,’” Green continued. “He was giving the ball to Cam Spencer and kind of going to stand in the corner. And Steph was like, ‘Quiet protest going on, huh?’ And I was like, ‘That’s what it looked like.’”
Draymond Green felt that Morant wasn’t on the same page with the coaching staff. This was the main reason he looked uninterested in being on the court.
Draymond Green commented on the Grizzlies’ decision to suspend their best player
Draymond Green knows what it’s like to be suspended by the team. In 2022, the Warriors put the four-time champion under disciplinary action after he punched Jordan Poole during practice.
It’s not a similar issue with Morant, but it still has something to do with punishing an All-Star. The obvious difference between the two is that the Grizzlies guard is the best player on the team, while Green was a complementary star to Golden State’s Steph Curry.
Still, the nine-time All-Defensive talked about how Memphis’ decision could backfire.
“What I will say is this: I am not a big fan of suspending your top guys,” Green said. “As a guy who has been suspended through the years, I don’t think it does much of anything outside of piss the guys off. When you’re talking your first and most important player and you’re suspending that guy, there’s always the possibility of like — there’s no coming back from that.”
After suspending Morant, there have been plenty of trade rumors and several teams have reportedly started to monitor the situation.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
