Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic was struck in the face by Draymond Green, a player for the Golden State Warriors. Green was dismissed by the referees, making three ejections thus far this season.
Nurkic was questioned about the incident following the Suns’ victory over the Warriors.
The NBA fined Green for five games and expelled him after he put big man Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves in a headlock. Nurkic received an apology from the Warriors forward at his press conference.
“I am not one to apologize for things I mean to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” Green said. “I sell calls with my arms … so I was selling the call … and I swung and unfortunately I hit him.”
As everyone knows, Green has a history of unsportsmanlike acts. It will be intriguing to see how many games the NBA suspends Green this time.
“Like I said, if I intended to do that, then I would feel awful about not being there,” Green said. “But my intentions were just to sell the foul. You guys have known me long enough, if I intended to do something, I am not apologizing. But I did make contact with him, so I do apologize. … It’s a hard hit.”
The Suns beat the Warriors by a final score of 119-116. Green finished with two points, two rebounds and two assists, while Nurkic put up 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Nurkic is averaging 12.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in his debut season with the Suns. He is also shooting 46.0% from the field, 28.1% from beyond the arc, and 72.4% from the free-throw line. There are seven double-doubles for the 29-year-old.
In the meantime, Green is shooting 49.0% from the field, 42.9% from beyond the arc, and 83.3% from the free-throw line while averaging 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.7 blocks for the Warriors.
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