Grant Hill: Draymond Green Omitted from USA Basketball Pool After Warriors Suspension

Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green already faced discipline from the NBA for his outbursts, but his actions this season have had further consequences.

Per ESPN's Brian Windhorst, USA Basketball executive director Grant Hill said during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday that Green was left out of the player pool for the Summer Olympics in Paris due to his suspensions this season.

"His contributions have been significant, and he is a real part of the legacy of this organization for his excellence," Hill said. "But I think just in lieu of sort of what's transpired this year, we made a decision to not have [Green] on this list with this particular point in time with the process."

Green was a member of gold-medal-winning teams at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and at the 2021 Games in Tokyo. He was the most surprising omission from the 41-player pool that was revealed on Tuesday, considering his defensive versatility makes him an important player in the international game and longtime Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is also the national team coach.

Unfortunately, Green has not been able to get out of his own way this season. He was suspended for five games in November after he put Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold during a game. He received an indefinite suspension in December after striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the head, which resulted in him missing 12 games before he was reinstated earlier this month and another four more while he got back into playing shape.

Hill made it clear that these transgressions were enough for USA Basketball to exclude Green from the Olympic player pool.

"We all understand and certainly have great respect and sensitivity to this particular period in his career, and he's working through some things both on and off the court," Hill said. "And so we at USA Basketball wanted to support him on his journey and we just didn't feel that playing over the summer gives him the best opportunity to do what he needs to do."