Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended indefinitely following an on-court altercation earlier this week, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old was ejected during his team’s 119-116 defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

During the third quarter while being guarded by the center, Green spun around and struck Jusuf Nurkić in the face with his right arm, dropping him to the ground.

Green asserted after the game that the hit was accidental.

“I am not one to apologize for things I mean to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” Green said after the game. “I was just selling the call because he was grabbing me and pulling my hip, so I spun away and, unfortunately, I hit him.”

The NBA said it “takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”

This was Green’s third ejection of the season. He was kicked out of Golden State’s November 11 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers after receiving two technical fouls before being involved in another high-profile incident three days later when he put Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock.

The former defensive player of the year was handed a five-game suspension as a result of the latter, with the length of the suspension being partly “attributed to Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said in a statement.

Green was also suspended for one game in April after stepping on the chest of Sacramento Kings centre Domantas Sabonis.

Green was also suspended for one game in April after stepping on the chest of Sacramento Kings centre Domantas Sabonis.

The latest suspension will begin immediately, and Green will “be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play,” the NBA said in a statement.

“We need Draymond. He knows that,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said postgame.

“We’ve talked to him. He’s got to find a way to keep his poise and be out there for his teammates.

“Draymond is still a really good player. We need him if we are going to be a really good team.”

When asked about the incident after the game, Nurkić said: “What’s going on with him? I don’t know. Personally, I feel like that brother needs help.

This was a surprisingly empathic reaction.

Draymond Green has wronged a lot of people in his NBA career. One of the most recent players he harmed was Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Surprisingly, Gobert showed nothing but empathy toward Green’s suspension.

In an interview with Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Rudy Gobert shared his reaction to Draymond Green’s indefinite suspension.

“I have empathy for him,” Gobert told ESPN. “You see somebody that’s not well inside and suffering. You take away the game and all that, and you want somebody to be well and be able to do what we do every night and compete and be happy.”

If there’s someone who should feel a certain type of way about Draymond Green, it’s Rudy Gobert. The chokehold that Green put Gobert in was not only over the top, but it created unnecessary narratives about the Timberwolves, with many calling the team soft. Even though Gobert feels bad for Green, he still believes the punishment is necessary.

“I’m not sure what that really means, so it’s hard to tell,” Gobert said. “I mean, you don’t want someone to get badly hurt. You’ve got to fix that. That’s it.”

It may hurt Warriors fans to say it, but Draymond Green absolutely deserved the indefinite suspension punishment. Time after time, he was harming other NBA players without repercussion and never had any ownership of his actions. At some point, he had to stop being enabled.