This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
I can at least understand why Draymond Green was suspended.
Kings big man Domantas Sabonis may miss Game 3 of the first-round series against the Warriors due to a sternum contusion after Green stomped on him during the fourth quarter during Game 2.
Green was issued a Flagrant 2 and subsequently ejected from the game. The NBA should have hit him with a fine and carried on with the series after that.
Instead, Green was given the same punishment that Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks received for his flagrant foul that injured Golden State’s Gary Payton II (and forced him to miss the remainder of the postseason) last year.
There is a reason why Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, and so many others are defending Green for these actions. It wouldn’t have happened if Sabonis hadn’t grabbed his ankle!
Green’s response was egregious, and it didn’t help that he chose to escalate the crowd in front of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
But here is the real problem: This suspension takes away from the fact that even with Green on the court for the first two games, the Kings handed the Warriors their first 2-0 playoff series deficit since Curry was drafted.
As noted by both Charles Barkley and Jay Williams, this suspension makes the conversation about this series centered around Green and not how well Sacramento is playing.
The Kings enjoyed their first playoff berth since 2006 and are now just two wins away from winning their first postseason series since 2004. They should have that without an asterisk from fans saying they only won because Green was suspended.
I want to see both of these teams play each other at full strength, and with Green sidelined, some fans may issue an excuse if the defending champions lose in the first round.
Both teams deserve better than this poor decision to suspend Green.
Quick Hits: Yankees can’t do math! … Red Sox love celebrating … NHL players crossing the line? … and more
— Baseball fans mocked the New York Yankees for celebrating the 100th anniversary of a stadium that opened in 2009
— Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo delightfully could not stop accidentally cursing during a live postgame interview
— NHL fans blasted Ryan Suter for crossing the line after dirty plays with Kirill Kaprizov
— Succession fans freaked out about the inner Mr. Darcy finally showing up in Tom Wambsgans
