Draymond Green Suspended for Game 5 for Punching Lebron James in the Crotch

Punching an opposing player in the crotch does not, in and of itself, earn a suspension from the NBA, as amazing as that is. But Draymond Green is suspended from Game 5 of the NBA Finals just the same, after the league reviewed his shot to James’ groin during game four and assessed him a flagrant foul. This gave him four flagrant foul points during the playoffs and triggered a suspension.

Adding insult to injury, the NBA hilariously gave James a technical foul for “taunting” Green, who — let’s not lose sight of this — then punched James in the balls like a seventh grader.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been assessed a Flagrant Foul 1 upon league office review, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

In accordance with NBA rules, Green will serve a one-game suspension without pay for accruing his fourth Flagrant Foul point of the 2016 postseason. He will serve his suspension Monday, June 13 during Game 5 of The Finals at Oracle Arena.

The incident occurred when Green made unnecessary contact with a retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James with 2:48 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 108-97 win in Game 4 of The Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.

Under league rules, any player who accumulates four flagrant foul points over the course of the playoffs will be automatically suspended for one game, and every additional flagrant foul will result in either a one-game suspension (for a Flagrant Foul 1) or a two-game suspension (for a Flagrant Foul 2).

“The cumulative points system is designed to deter flagrant fouls in our game” said VanDeWeghe. “While Draymond Green’s actions in Game 4 do not merit a suspension as a standalone act, the number of flagrant points he has earned triggers a suspension for Game 5.”

James has been assessed a technical foul upon league office review for his role in the altercation, which included a physical taunt.

The Warriors, naturally, were unhappy Green was suspended, and Mo Speights went so far as to blame James for Green hitting him in the testicles, per ESPN’s Ethan Strauss.

A guy does something like that, you kind of lose respect for him. I had a lot of respect for LeBron over his career, since he was in high school. But, do things like that to get a guy suspended? That kind of disrespectful.

Speights went on to suggest Green really had no choice in the matter.

It’s messed to suspend a man over nothing. If somebody put they balls on your head, what are you supposed to do? Balls are on the back of his head. It’s kind of messed up man, but hey.

Game 5 is Monday night. The Warriors lead the series 3-1.