NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars hung up the phone at 2:30 a.m. ET on the night Golden State’s Draymond Green stepped on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis’ chest in Game 2 of the Western Conference series Monday.
Dumars was back in his office at NBA headquarters in midtown Manhattan at 7:30 a.m. ET Tuesday. After a long day leading the NBA’s investigation into the incident, Dumars and the league sent a news release at 11:41 p.m. ET announcing a one-game suspension for Green.
On Wednesday, Dumars explained the NBA’s decision to suspend Green for Game 3 Thursday (10 p.m. ET, TNT). The Kings lead the series 2-0.
“I can basically say three things that tipped the, that got us to a suspension,” Dumars told USA TODAY Sports. “It was a dangerous and unnecessary act. The second thing was conduct detrimental (to the league). And the third thing was repeat offender. And that’s how we got to a suspension. It was a totality of all of those three things.”
League investigators talked to both players, and Dumars and his staff spent Tuesday discussing what happened and what the league should do.
Follow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules
While the league knew Sabonis was diagnosed with a bruised sternum, that was not a significant factor in the league’s decision to suspend Green, who was ejected from the game.
“It is important for us to know what’s happened with the player who’s involved,” Dumars said. “I think more so than anything, the three things that I listed overrides everything else.”
As for Sabonis’ role, the league considered several aspects, including a possible fine, but concluded the technical foul issued on the court was sufficient punishment.
“He was penalized on the court for his actions. It just didn’t rise to the level of postgame actions from the league office,” Dumars said. “We looked at it and felt like, ‘OK, they (referees) got it right. He got a technical foul for that. Golden State was awarded a free throw.’ So we felt like that that was enough there. Then you separate and you go to Draymond.”
The league made clear in its release that Green’s “suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
The league has been consistent in considering a player’s history when ruling on potential fines and suspensions.
Had it been another player without Green’s reputation, it’s possible he still would’ve been suspended because of an unnecessary and dangerous act and conduct detrimental to the game. But Green’s history, including a flagrant foul two and one-game suspension during the 2016 NBA Finals, guaranteed the suspension.
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt