Draymond Green on Rudy Gobert Fight Video: 'When I Watched It Back, I Said, 'Damn''

Draymond Green may never change how he plays, but that doesn't mean the Golden State Warriors forward is incapable of introspection.

Speaking to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Green talked about his reaction when he watched video of the on-court altercation with Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in the first quarter of a Nov. 14 game.

"When I watched it back, I said, 'Damn, I held him much longer than I realized in that moment,'" Green said. "But the reality is, in those moments, you don't know what time is. You don't have a sense of time."

The altercation with Gobert resulted in Green being suspended for five games by the NBA. It was the longest suspension any player has received for an on-court incident during Adam Silver's tenure as commissioner.

Green and Gobert have a history dating back to 2019, when Green criticized the French big man for crying when he was snubbed for a spot on the All-Star team. He brought up the situation again three years later.

In the aftermath of the Green-Jordan Poole incident during Warriors training camp in October 2022, Gobert sent out a cryptic message on social media that many believed was directed at Green.

Green once again put himself in a position to be disciplined by the NBA on Tuesday when he struck Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face. The league responded by suspending him indefinitely.

This marks the sixth time Green has been suspended by the NBA, with all of them coming since 2016. Four of those suspensions have come in the 2023 calendar year, including in Game 3 of the playoff series against the Sacramento Kings when he was assessed a flagrant 2 foul for stepping on Domantas Sabonis.

The Warriors went 2-3 without Green when he served the five-game suspension for putting Gobert in a headlock earlier this season. They lost the first game of his current suspension Thursday night to the Los Angeles Clippers.