OAKLAND, CALIF.: Draymond Green is out and LeBron James is on the high road. Klay Thompson is throwing verbal jabs and a lopsided 3-1 NBA Finals became a whole lot more interesting on Sunday.
Green was suspended for Monday’s Game 5 after the league retroactively assessed him a flagrant-1 for his groin punch on James late during the Golden State Warriors’ Game 4 victory at Quicken Loans Arena. The flagrant gave Green four flagrant points during this postseason, triggering an automatic one-game suspension that clearly had his teammates fuming.
James and Green exchanged words and James stepped over Green’s head late in Game 4. Green popped up quickly and punched James in the groin on his way up.
“Obviously, people have feelings and people’s feelings get hurt even if they’re called a bad word,” Thompson said. “I guess [James’] feelings just got hurt. I mean, we’ve all been called plenty of bad words on the basketball court before. Some guys just react to it differently. All I can say for myself individually, I just try to ignore it or just let it fuel the fire, but I don’t carry it with me when the job is done.”
James let out a lengthy chuckle when he heard what Thompson said about him.
“Oh, my goodness,” James said. “... It’s so hard to take the high road. I’ve been doing it for 13 years. It’s so hard to continue to do it, and I’m going to do it again. At the end of the day, we’ve got to go out and show up and play better tomorrow night. And if we don’t, then they’re going to be back-to-back champions and that’s it.”
The Warriors might be without their emotional leader Monday night in Green, but the hard feelings on both sides clearly seem to be rising with the Cavs on the brink of elimination.
Cavs players privately believed Green should’ve been suspended during the Western Conference finals when he kicked Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin. Instead, Green’s foul on the play was upgraded to a flagrant-2 after the game, leaving him vulnerable to a suspension throughout the Finals if he was assessed another flagrant.
Nevertheless, James insisted he wasn’t keeping track of flagrant points, nor was he trying to bait Green when he stepped over him late in the game.
“I was just trying to get back into the play,” James said. “I knew we got into a grapple at the top of the key, but me just trying to get back into the play. That was my whole mindset.”
Thompson was the most outspoken of all the Warriors players, but a handful were privately seething at the suspension. Former Cavs forward Mo Speights tweeted an emoji of a baby bottle Sunday afternoon and another Warriors player thought James’ actions, and his explanation from the podium after Game 4 over why he was so upset by Green’s words, would only increase the dislike people feel toward him.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he learned of the suspension near the end of practice, meaning the Warriors will only have Monday morning’s shootaround to determine how they’ll play without Green, who is averaging 14.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists in this series.
They lost the only game he missed this season when he rested at the Denver Nuggets in January.
Green will not be allowed in Oracle Arena during the game Monday, but can return for the celebration should the Warriors win. He must remain on the active roster, however.
“He brings a lot to the table — defensive versatility, rebounding, ball handling and passing,” Kerr said. “So we’ve got to figure out a way to still be effective at both ends without him. We have a lot of players who have helped us all year long, big and small and in-between. So probably a lot of different people will get a chance tomorrow.”
Green’s suspension could be an opportunity for the Cavs to return Kevin Love to the starting lineup. Love came off the bench in Game 4 primarily because of his defensive struggles handling a player like Green, plus the Cavs were unable to duplicate the success they had after a lopsided win in Game 3 with James starting at power forward. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said he wasn’t sure yet who he would start Monday night.
“He brings a toughness to their team. We know that. He’s the heart and soul of their team,” Lue said. “But we’ve still got to play. His suspension doesn’t make us win the game. We’ve got to go out and win the game and take the game. So it’s a big suspension on their end, but we’ve still got to play.”
James and Green have shared business interests in the video company Uninterrupted and the two have been known to make wagers over the years, particularly on Michigan State-Ohio State sporting events. James believes the relationship will not be damaged by the most recent incident, but maintains Green crossed a line.
“I think we all know what’s crossing the line no matter if you’re playing basketball or if you’re playing video games or we’re playing catch or you’re double-dutching it. I mean, we know what’s crossing the line. We know what words cross the line, male or female.
“Ever since Draymond came into the league, I’ve been someone that he can always talk to and things of that nature. But he crossed the line last game. He felt like I crossed the line. We said what we had to say. So we’re in a competitive series right now, and I think right now friendship is the last thing we’re thinking about.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.