Draymond Green’s long list of fines is a fascinating glimpse at his NBA career, but the latest might be a preview of his post-playing days. Green was fined on Sunday $50,000 for comments he made during an eventful stint on TNT where he openly lobbied for Devin Booker to leave the Phoenix Suns organization.
Green appeared on TNT’s NBA coverage on Saturday night and had a lot of fun going back and forth with Charles Barkley about a variety of subjects. But when Green talked about another breakout performance from Booker as the scrappy Suns fight for the postseason, he apparently crossed the line and got well into tampering territory.
The news hit on Sunday morning, with the NBA making the fine official.
Warriors star Draymond Green fined $50,000 for public comments about Suns All-Star Devin Booker and for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 9, 2020
The NBA made it clear the fine was a result of his “get my man out of Phoenix” comments, which even Green admitted was “probably” tampering when he said it live on air. It made for great televison, sure, but as an active NBA player who has spent his entire career with an organization that built a super team and added to it in free agency, it wasn’t a great look for the league.
Booker still has plenty of work to do with the Suns this season, of course, as they try to make an improbable run into the NBA’s bubbled postseason. Green, meanwhile, has plenty of time to keep entertaining on television if he wants to. He’ll probably be more careful about what he says from now on, though.