OKLAHOMA CITY — Draymond Green was his talkative self at Golden State Warriors practice on Monday, but the All-Star forward's mood was understandably heavier than normal.
Just hours before, when the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals in a 133-105 rout to take a 2-1 series lead, Green's second quarter kick to the crotch of Thunder big man Steven Adams brought with it the risk of changing everything for the defending champions. Green reiterated his stance a day later, saying he had no intention of kicking Adams and that he doesn't believe he should be suspended.
But as the basketball world awaited a verdict from the league office, with vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe tasked with making the decision, Green said that he's bracing for the worst.
"The way everybody is blowing it up makes me think I'm going to get suspended, when I don't think it should even be considered because I know I wasn't trying to kick him," Green told USA TODAY Sports. "I don't pay it any attention (the criticism and media noise), honestly. It just is what it is for me. I wouldn't be worried about anything if I wasn't facing a suspension. Everything else is pretty irrelevant to me."
With the play being analyzed in all corners and from every angle, Green disagreed with the widely-held notion that the NBA’s decision to suspend Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dahntay Jones on Sunday qualifies as an ominous sign. His point, in essence, is that a punch and a kick simply can’t be compared.
What’s more, he went out of his way to fire back at Russell Westbrook after the Thunder point guard said on Sunday night that he thought Green’s kick was intentional.
“Russell said I did it on purpose?” Green told a group of reporters. “Well, he’s a part of the superstar group that started all this acting in the NBA. I didn’t. So I sold the call.”
When made aware of Green's comments, Westbrook fired back.
"I've never been fined for one flop since I've been playing in the NBA, so I don't know about no flopping or nothing," Westbrook said. "I don't know now to flop. But seems like he was the one that was flailing, kicking his legs and stuff out yesterday. It wasn't me."
Green, in making the point that plays like this are often overlooked, also cited the end-of-first-half play in which he fouled Westbrook on a deep three-point attempt and the two became entangled on the way down.
“It was the same thing (in terms of a leg kick),” Green told USA TODAY Sports. “He caught me in the leg. But it’s like, if I’m standing over the top of him, and his leg goes up, it’s going to catch me in the same place. But I wasn’t standing over the top of him. Steven Adams was standing over the top of (Green).”
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