The NBA hasn’t handed down any extra punishment to Draymond Green after his scuffle with the Phoenix Suns earlier this week, and that appears to be where things are headed. Green was hit with two technical fouls in the incident involving Suns center Khaman Maluach and forward Dillon Brooks, which sent him out of Golden State’s eventual win in Phoenix. NBA insider Shams Charania said he doesn’t expect the league to take further action.
Green, for his part, didn’t dodge the moment when he discussed it on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show.
“Some of those fouls just had to happen. They just have to in order to command the respect that you must command in order to protect a rim," Green said.
"You must stand on that type of time as a big man, if you don't, your paint get ran through, no rim protection cause there's no respect after that, that's gotta happen... so the next time you gonna try something you gotta think about it... where the plot twist is like Dillon Brooks running up, spewing the things out that he was spewing out, Miles Bridges was trying to de-escalate... you were trying to be the villain and that type of energy will not ever be respected."
It’s hardly unfamiliar territory for Green, who has spent plenty of time in the middle of on-court dustups over the years. What stands out here is how directly he laid out his side of it.
Golden State also came away feeling like the confrontation helped them. Steph Curry said the scuffle gave the Warriors a boost, and they used it to erase a 17-point deficit and beat Phoenix.
The Suns, meanwhile, didn’t exactly see it the same way. Big man Charles Bassey said the team’s edge was being misunderstood.
"It was all fake because being physical doesn't mean you have to scuffle with guys. It doesn't mean you're tough.
Being physical is playing harder every possession. Going out there and fighting for rebounds and doing what I'm doing," he said following the game (h/t Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic).
The teams won’t have to wait long for another meeting. The Suns and Warriors are set to face each other again on Dec. 28 in Phoenix.
In Other News...
Suns Just Saw Why The Magic Are Already In Trouble
Orlandos rough opening to the 2026-27 season has been hard to miss, and the recent loss to the Suns only sharpened the concerns around a team trying to find its footing without Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs. The Magic have stumbled to a 2-6 start, and the issues have been familiar from night to night: too many turnovers, shaky ball control and an offense that has had trouble generating steady scoring when its top options are unavailable.
For Phoenix, the matchup offered a clear look at why the Magic are already under pressure to stabilize things quickly. The shot-making has not been there at a high enough level, especially from 3-point range, and the absence of Banchero and Suggs has left Orlando searching for answers it has not yet found. Until the Magic clean up the mistakes and get more consistent production back in the lineup, the early-season hole is only going to feel deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Are Already Searching For Answers After This Brutal Start
The Suns are already tinkering with the pieces around their rough start, and the latest adjustment came before the matchup with Orlando when they swapped Khaman Maluach out of the first unit and moved Oso Ighodaro into the starting center spot. It is the kind of early-season change that signals urgency without quite tipping into panic, especially for a team still trying to settle on a workable rotation and find some stability around its core.
Jordan Ott also said rookie forward Koa Peat is close to cracking the rotation, another sign that Phoenix is looking inward for answers before reaching for something bigger. Jordan Goodwin and Rasheer Fleming are still sidelined but day-to-day, while Suns analyst Gerald Bourguet has already floated point guard trade ideas if the skid continues, though he would rather see the team exhaust its internal fixes first. [Read more 🡒]
Devin Booker Looked Like Himself In A Suns Win That Solved Nothing
Devin Booker looked like himself again in a Suns win that at least offered a familiar sight in an uneven start to the season. Phoenix beat the Orlando Magic 117-104 on the final stop of Orlandos four-game West Coast trip, with Booker leading the way with 28 points, eight assists and three steals while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Even so, the result did not exactly answer every question around this team. Orlandos 25 turnovers gave Phoenix plenty of easy offense, but the Magic also controlled the glass with 15 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points, a reminder that the Suns still have issues to sort through even when Booker is carrying the scoring load. [Read more 🡒]