Jusuf Nurkic After Getting Hit By Draymond Green: ‘That Brother Needs Help, I’m Glad He Didn’t Try To Choke Me’

The Phoenix Suns made it more interesting than it should have been on Tuesday night, but still pulled out a 119-116 win over the Golden State Warriors to snap a two-game skid. While Bradley Beal’s return to the lineup was the story coming into the game, coming out of it the discussion was the latest ejection from Draymond Green after he swung his arm around wildly and hit Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

Green has been back in the Warriors lineup for just two weeks since serving his five-game suspension for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold. Upon his return to the team, he said he needed to “adjust” because the league is punishing him as a repeat offender, saying how meaningful it is to him when his teammates and coaches call him out for crossing the line. And yet, two weeks later he crossed it again, and after the game Jusuf Nurkic just wanted to know “What’s going on with him?”

Nurkic seems to believe something is going on with Green off the court that’s causing him to be even more violent on it this season, and notes he hopes whatever that is that’s putting Green even more on edge than usual improves. Whether it’s something off the court or Green struggling to deal with a dropoff in productivity from himself and the Warriors, neither of those things are a viable excuse for hitting folks in the face or choking guys out.

Green apologized after the game, saying he didn’t mean to hit Nurkic and was just trying to sell the call, which seems like a bit of damage control for Green who likely knows the league is going to come down with another suspension.

We’ll find out if the NBA buys Green’s explanation or not, but Nurkic has his theory that this goes beyond basketball and that Green needs to figure that out or he’s going to keep crossing the line.