Draymond Green has vowed to “remove the antics” from his game as he gets ready to come back to the Warriors.
While Green, 33, gets ready to return for game action following an indefinite suspension by the NBA, the Warriors forward is aiming not to put himself in any other situations that could see him facing disciplinary actions.
“The antics can go and I made a commitment to make sure they don’t creep in,” Green said, according to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears.
Green was suspended for the second time this season after he was involved he landed a spinning backfist in an incident with Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in December.
He was reinstated by the league over the weekend.
It was Green’s third physical altercation of the year and it came on the heels of putting Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert in a headlock, which resulted in a five-game suspension in November.
During media availability on Tuesday, Green said that he was “letting so many people down” around the Warriors organization and that he “cares about people.”
The four-time NBA All-Star does not have a set return date to come back, but he understands the urgency to be ready.
Golden State has struggled this season and is 12th in the Western Conference with a 17-19 record.
“It’s urgent from a professional standpoint because I wasn’t hurt,” Green said Tuesday. “At least, my body wasn’t hurt. My mind was hurting, my feelings was hurt, but it wasn’t like some injury caused me off the court. It’s very urgent because I’ve cost my team enough. I’ve cost this organization enough.
“It’s not a time for me to just come back and be like, ‘Alright, I’m going to take my time and get back when I can.’ No, like, you caused this yourself. You don’t get the grace.”
Green has averaged 9.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 15 games for the Warriors this season.
