NBA suspends Draymond Green 5 games for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold

Jason Owens

The NBA is suspending Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green five games without pay for "escalating an on-court altercation and forcibly grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert around the neck in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner."

The league announced the penalty Wednesday in a statement from executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars. The statement cited Green's "history of unsportsmanlike acts" in assessing the penalty.

The NBA is also fining Gobert, Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels $25,000 each for their roles in Tuesday's melee between the Warriors and Timberwolves.

Green will miss two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder then others against the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. He'll be eligible to return Nov. 28 against the Sacramento Kings.

Warriors-Wolves game turns ugly early

The incident took place shortly after tipoff. With fewer than two minutes off the clock in a 0-0 game, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Warriors guard Klay Thompson got tangled up as Golden State advanced the ball in transition.

Thompson grabbed McDaniels' jersey as the two battled for rebounding position. Neither secured the rebound and the two grappled as they crossed halfcourt. Each had a hold of the other's jersey, and they both unsuccessfully attempted to sling the other to the ground.

As the situation escalated, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert grabbed Thompson in an effort to pull him off of his teammate. A trailing Green then grabbed Gobert from behind and immediately put him in a chokehold.

Green then dragged Gobert by his neck from halfcourt to near the Golden State free-throw line before dropping Gobert to the court. Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns unsuccessfully tried to pull Green off Gobert before Green eventually released him.

At that point, Thompson and McDaniels were separated and far away from the fray. Both were ejected. As was Green, who was assessed a flagrant 2 foul for attacking Gobert.

Rudy Gobert plans to appeal 'shameful' fine

In explaining the fines, the NBA stated that the incident escalated when Thompson and McDaniels "became entangled and were grabbing and pulling at one another's jerseys, and continued when Gobert entered the situation and wrapped up Thompson."

Gobert didn't understand why he was fined, and said Wednesday that he was trying to be a "peacemaker" in the situation. He plans to file an appeal with the league.

“You know every situation is different, but to me that was more than just a reaction,” Gobert said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Chris Hine. “That was a personal attack. Me being fined when I chose to, when I was being a peacemaker and I chose to keep my hands up while I was being assaulted is shameful. Shameful.”

The suspension is the fifth of Green's career. Dumars cited "Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts" when suspending him last postseason after he stomped on the chest of Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis. At the time, that history included 163 technical fouls, 17 ejections and three prior suspensions.

Add another to the tally.

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