Draymond Green: Luka Doncic Theory Explained

By Editorial | Sport

Draymond Green knows the NBA’s disciplinary rules and how the league punishes altercations better than anyone. When he learned of the suspension imposed on Dennis Schröder after his incident with Luka Dončić, the Golden State veteran did not hide his skepticism.

The league decided to suspend Schröder for three games following a clash that occurred in the corridors of the Crypto.com Arena, after the Lakers’ big victory against the Kings at the end of December. In its official press release, the NBA specifies that the German guard “tried” to hit Dončić, without confirming real contact.

This detail immediately caught Draymond Green’s attention. Accustomed to the sometimes controversial decisions of the league, the interior judged the sanction severe with regard to the wording used by the NBA, believing that the vocabulary used did not fully correspond with the duration of the suspension.

A sanction that raises questions

According to him, the general context of the NBA partly explains this situation. Physical confrontations have become rare, with the majority of tensions now limited to verbal exchanges, some shoving and a lot of provocation. But when two players have a deeper animosity, the situation can quickly escalate.

It is precisely this point that Green wanted to highlight. “They said Dennis tried to hit Luka, and I saw Dennis emphasize the word ‘attempted’ as if he had hit him. Obviously, that raises a question: if he takes three games, did he really attempt a shot, or did he hit Luka? »he asks, suggesting that the reality could be different from the official version.

Green draws on recent precedent to support his reasoning. Several players have been suspended for similar, or even shorter, lengths of time after clearly striking an opponent. For him, this apparent inconsistency fuels doubt around the incident involving Schröder and Dončić.

The veteran notably recalls certain cases handled by the league in recent seasons. “I’ve seen guys take two games when they clearly hit someone. So the question remains the same: attempt or real blow? This is where it gets interesting”he insists, emphasizing that three matches seem heavy for a simple attempt.