National Basketball Association

NBA's Adam Silver says Draymond Green lost 'the benefit of the doubt' on suspension

Published Jun. 16, 2016 1:30 p.m. ET

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Andrew Lynch

NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants you to know exactly what Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 -- and why the NBA has gotten so "soft" in the minds of some fans.

Silver joined the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday and explained (as we previously have) that Green missed Game 5 because of an accumulation of flagrant fouls, not because he was suspended for his groin shot on LeBron James in Game 4. According to Silver, the rules in place that resulted in Green's suspension are there for a reason: to prevent the kinds of physical altercations we've seen over the course of NBA history.

Patrick went on to ask if there's a distinction between, say, the knee and the groin or head, more sensitive areas that are often involved in flagrant foul calls. Silver was emphatic in his response, and pointed out that unfortunately for Green, he lost the benefit of the doubt in this instance because of his previous behavior in the postseason.

Silver didn't explicitly say it in this interview, but there's a very specific event that plays into the league's current mindset with regard to flagrants: The Malice at the Palace.

The league will do everything it can to prevent such an event from ever taking place again. If that means constant reviews of potential flagrants and referees injecting themselves into scenarios that are starting to escalate, so be it. There's simply too much on the line for players and fans to become involved in another physical altercation.

Yet the average fan doesn't have time to acknowledge that meta-concern. We want entertaining games that aren't stagnated by reviews and "soft" flagrants. It's a balancing act that the NBA goes through every day. We certainly don't envy that part of the job.

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