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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

Earlier in December, the NBA suspended Draymond Green indefinitely for his violent actions on the court. However, this decision has been a long time coming. Green has acted as a physical threat on the court for others for some time now. The leaked video of him punching his former Golden State Warriors teammate Jordan Poole was a prime example of the uncontrollable nature of the 4x champion. However, a former Detroit Pistons player has a different insight as to why the NBA had to make a point with Green’s suspension.

Despite numerous warnings, the actions of Draymond Green are an implication of insubordination to the Golden State Warriors and the NBA. The Warriors team has stars like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson who have a big following outside the United States. John Salley believes that the actions of Green won’t be easy for the Chinese fans to take in.

We need to be very cognizant of what the league is selling and who they are selling their product to. In China, they do not want to see insubordination. So when you got 300 million people watching and it’s on the team with KlayKlay is huge in China. The Warriors are huge in China… It’s way bigger than these guys getting in a fight. You can’t show that. We can’t have multi-million-dollar companies having fist fights,” said John Salley during a recent interview with VladTV.

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Despite the recent incidents, Salley believes that the leaked Jordan Poole video is the root cause of everything. The video in particular was viewed by almost everyone, which was a significant blow for the NBA. So since then, the league has been closely monitoring Draymond Green to not cause further trouble. However, as his actions kept getting out of control, the NBA decided to step in and end the antics themselves.

Has Draymond Green learned from his mistakes?

The sample size is small, so it is unclear if Green has changed his ways. However, his recent performance against the Los Angeles Lakers has brought up some question marks.

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Green is aggressive on the defensive end. While trying to get the ball out of Anthony Davis’ hand, Green accidentally smacked AD in the face. This led to Davis’ teammate Jared Vanderbilt asking the referee to review the play, but only for Green to respond, “Shut your b***h a** up.

At the end of the day, Green has shown that he is able to perform on the court and has had a positive impact on the team. Only time will tell where the Warriors will be placed at the end of the season, as they are currently struggling to hold onto a playoff position.

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What do you think of John Salley’s comments about Draymond Green? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!