This seems to hint at 3 weeks suspension for Dray. So he’s gonna be back by January 7th or 8th. 12-13 game suspension. Slap on the wrist.
Well, they did say “at least.” Because going by his ejection history and verbal outbursts (the ones not even whistled) he’s always making a case for himself being the aggrieved party, rarely if ever taking responsibility or showing self-awareness.
My point is that this time around, I suspect they’re going to need him to take a long look at his behavior and finally own up to it, hopefully on a case by case basis. So the three weeks may represent a sort of ‘minimum counselling period,’ but beyond that, I think they’ll need him to reprogram himself to the extent possible, which might well take more time. That on top of maybe other conditions, like a daily self report and needing to meet certain goals in bi-weekly counselling sessions.
That’s a lot of speculation of course, but if the NBA’s going to do it right, I’m thinking it resembles something like the above.
Slap on the wrist.
I suspect it’s probably better to do this on a ‘goals & timeframe’ basis rather than “just serve ~15 games and get back in there.”
That said, one thing not seemingly mentioned is that the Warriors are hugely to blame for much of this and should be facing some serious consequences themselves as I see it. They’ve functionally acted like hostages to Draymond’s antics over the years, and it simply hasn’t worked. I admire the Nets far more for how they disciplined Kyrie Irving’s antics over his last couple seasons, even though it was predictably going to alienate him from the franchise. By contrast, the Warriors showed that they’re far more interested in pursuing championships over doing the right thing. They should pay a price for that IMO.
By contrast, the Warriors showed that they’re far more interested in pursuing championships over doing the right thing.
What would have been the right thing in those instances. Isn’t winning championships the point and his antics in part, helped fuel the winning. Draymond definitely over did it but, he played the role the team needed him to play.
What, are you kidding me!? The problem isn’t Draymond ‘playing his role’ (which made him a multi-millionaire), it’s him lacking self-awareness and going over the line on multiple occasions, hurting other players and potentially seriously injuring someone at any given point. There’s also the fact that he arguably cost the Warriors a championship when he got suspended for trying to punch LeBron in the groin.
Clearly, doing the right thing would have been the Warriors recognising the pattern far earlier and making sure that Draymond got the help he needed in order to reprogram the behavior. I certainly don’t see how that would have been incompatible with winning championships, either.
Anyway, that’s my last reply on the matter at this point. Have fun…
Ok, good talk 🖖
13th offense, 13 day suspension?
