If anyone expected Draymond Green to feel badly about his altercation with Rudy Gobert, you might want to think again.
The Golden State Warriors’ star told reporters on Sunday that he had no regrets about the decision to put Gobert in a headlock on Nov. 14, which landed Green a five-game suspension from the NBA.
Green spoke with reporters for the first time since he was suspended and said that he was merely defending teammate Klay Thompson when he put the Minnesota Timberwolves center in a headlock.
“I don’t live my life with regrets,” Green said, according to ESPN. “I’ll come to a teammate’s defense any time that I’m in a position to come to a teammate’s defense. … What matters to me is how the people that I care about feel, first and foremost. How are the people that I care about affected? How are the people I care about, what do they have to deal with? That’s it for me.”
The dustup occurred when Thompson and Jaden McDaniels got into it as they were going up the court. It appeared that Thompson tried to push through McDaniels, who seemed to be preventing him from getting up the floor.
As the situation escalated, players from both teams joined the fray and that’s when Green grabbed a hold of Gobert and put him in the headlock.
Gobert took a verbal shot at Green after the game claiming that the Warriors’ forward purposefully got himself ejected because he didn’t want to play without Steph Curry.
Green and Gobert have a history with one another, but Green wouldn’t say if that played any sort of role in what occurred on Nov. 14.
“Things can be interpreted how people want to interpret them,” Green said. “I’m not here to judge people’s interpretations or try to change them. They are what they are. I know that for me, I am always going to be there for my teammates. That’s who I am. That’s who I am as a teammate, that’s who I am as a friend. … Right, wrong or indifferent, look to your side and I’ll be there — or even in front of you.”
The Warriors hope Green’s return can help turn a corner.
He’ll be back from his suspension on Tuesday when they play the Sacramento Kings. Golden State has lost eight of its 11 games and the Warriors are well aware of what Green brings back to the table.
“Our defense instantly gets better with Draymond; we know that,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “Then it’s really a matter of finding the right combinations within the game that are in rhythm and clicking. We’re searching for the best two-way version of our team. … I would say with all of the absences and injuries and stuff, we are still searching for that.”