Henry Roldán
The NBA is known for punishing serious fouls, and this time it was the Memphis Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks who was prosecuted by the league after his horrendous foul on Gary Payton II on Tuesday.
According to a statement posted on its social media, the NBA suspended Brooks for one commitment after he was charged with a second-degree flagrant foul that resulted in his ejection from Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal between the Golden State Warriors and Grizzlies.
Dillon Brooks was pulled from the game just three minutes into the first quarter after he hit Payton II in the face while he was in the air with the intention of putting a layup in the hoop. The Warriors’ player took a tumbling fall and while trying to place his left arm to break his fall, he fractured his elbow.
While Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game that he considered the foul “dirty,” he also noted that they would not retaliate against Dillon Brooks. The Golden State team also revealed that Payton II’s elbow would be re-evaluated in two weeks, although it is unlikely that he will be able to return this season.
Draymond Green Fined for Obscene Gestures
In the midst of a series between the Warriors and Memphis that is getting pretty aggressive, Draymond Green was fined $25,000 by the NBA after showing the middle finger of both of his hands to Grizzlies fans.
Minutes after Dillons Brooks fouled Gary Payton II, Green was hit in the face by Xavier Tillman’s elbow, who was not charged with any foul for the action. After the action, the Warriors player, who began to bleed, had to go to the locker room and was booed by rival fans.
This didn’t sit well with Green, an unloved figure by anti-Warriors fans, and he took justice into his own hands, or in this instance his fingers, by making the gesture to them.
Green has been ejected in the first game of the series when he was charged with a second-degree flagrant foul for a rather questionable action on Brandon Clarke.
