Warriors’ Draymond Green Says NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Talked Him Out of Retirement

Draymond Green with the Warriors in 2017
Draymond Green with the Warriors in 2017. Photo by Robert John Herbert/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (7946500ac)

Veteran forward Draymond Green is back with the Golden State Warriors after serving a 12-game suspension. But as it turns out, Green almost didn’t return to the Warriors or the NBA.

Speaking on his The Draymond Green Show, Green revealed that he contemplated retiring. It was NBA Commissioner Adam Silver who talked him out of it.

“I told him, ‘Adam this is too much for me. … This is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire,’” Green said. “And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.’”

Green also added that talking with Silver helped him a lot and said that he is “thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you.”

The NBA suspended Green indefinitely after hitting Phoenix Suns’ center Jusuf Nurkic across the face in the third quarter of Golden State’s 119-116 loss to the Suns on December 12. At the time, the league stated that Green would be required to “meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.”

Green was sidelined for almost a month due to suspension before being reinstated over the weekend. It is unclear when the 33-year-old player will be back on the court.

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