OAKLAND — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was made aware of the NBA's decision to suspend Draymond Green for Game 5 of the NBA Finals near the end of Sunday's practice. Warriors general manager Bob Myers told Kerr, and Kerr told Green.
"It's irrelevant what any of us think," Kerr said on Sunday at Oracle Arena. "They made their decision, and we need to get ready for Game 5, and that's what we'll do today."
Kerr acknowledged the competitiveness and edge that makes Green so valuable can also be a detriment.
"It's been very important for us this year, and maybe that same quality has led us to this point," Kerr said.
Green's suspension is the result of his late-game altercation with LeBron James in Game 4, but it wasn't the incident itself that caused the suspension. He earned his fourth flagrant foul point of the postseason, resulting in an automatic one-game suspension, per NBA rules.
"... This was viewed as a flagrant one on its own," NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Kiki VanDeWeghe told USA TODAY Sports. "It wasn’t that we suspended him, it was that it triggered the suspension. And so we have our rules and our point system is in place, everybody knows it.
The Warriors back-to-back MVP Stephen Curry said the team was "surprised" by the ruling.
"It's an unfortunate situation, him getting caught with LeBron on top of him," Curry said. "I don't think it was intentional to hurt anybody. We're still confident. We know we have the depth and personnel to come out and get a win. That's all that matters. ... We have to go out and get a win for him."
The Warriors will have a chance to capture their second consecutive NBA championship on Monday night, but without their versatile forward on the floor, that will be easier said than done.
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