Warriors forward Draymond Green's two NBA suspensions this season cost him a spot on Team USA's 41-player pool for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic games.
USA Basketball Men's National Team managing director Grant Hill made that clear during a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday (h/t ESPN's Brian Windhorst).
"[Green's] contributions have been significant and he is a real part of the legacy of this organization for his excellence," Hill said. "But I think just in lieu of sort of what's transpired this year, we made a decision to not have [Green] on this list with this particular point in time with the process."
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Green, who helped Team USA bring home gold medals during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has served two suspensions this season for on-court incidents.
The four-time NBA champion was suspended five games in November for putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during a skirmish early in the Warriors' Nov. 14 loss at Chase Center.
A month later, Green was given an indefinite suspension after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic during the Warriors' Dec. 12 loss at Footprint Center. That punishment ended up lasting 12 games, with the four-time NBA All-Star missing an additional four games while he ramped up into basketball shape.
Green began counseling during his indefinite suspension, and he wasn't reinstated until the NBA, the Warriors and commissioner Adam Silver were confident he had learned and grown from the sessions and his time away from the team.
Golden State Warriors
The therapy sessions were embraced by Green, who spoke to reporters for the first time on Jan. 9, breaking his silence on his suspension and what he was working on to improve his temperament.
“One of the best things that happened to me during the process as soon as I got on the phone [with the therapist], he was like ‘So what’s this about? I see all the things in the news," Green said on Jan. 9. "I see everything everyone’s saying. How do you feel and what are you thinking? Because if you’re here just to satisfy some obligation or satisfy some public opinion you’re wasting my time and yours.'
"That was the most important thing for me that I could hear because that wasn’t why I was there. That was a very important part of me starting what has been the last four weeks or so for me.”
Hill cited during his comments that allowing Green to focus on himself during the summer rather than playing for Team USA was in the best interest of the player.
"We all understand and certainly have great respect and sensitivity to this particular period in his career, and he's working through some things both on and off the court," Hill said. "And so we at USA basketball wanted to support him on his journey and we just didn't feel that playing over the summer gives him the best opportunity to do what he needs to do."
Green has played in one game since returning from his suspension -- the Warriors' stunning 116-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 15. Golden State hasn't played since that night after assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died last Wednesday after suffering a heart attack at a team dinner in Salt Lake City, Utah, the previous night.
Green and the Warriors return to action against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at Chase Center.
Though Green isn't part of the 41-man Team USA pool, teammate Steph Curry is. And coach Steve Kerr will lead the final 12-man roster to Paris before stepping aside so that a new coach can take the helm of Team USA.
By the time the 2028 Summer Olympics roll around, Green will be 38 and approaching the end of his NBA career, so it's very likely that this was his last chance to win a third Gold medal.
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