Draymond Green Addresses Future With Warriors After Loss to Suns
Draymond Green Addresses Future With Warriors After Loss to Suns
Sami HaiderSat, April 18, 2026 at 6:11 AM UTC
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The Phoenix Suns punched their ticket to the NBA Playoffs on Friday night, eliminating the Golden State Warriors 111–96 in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament. But the game's final moments were overshadowed by a heated exchange that resulted in double ejections.
With 1:04 remaining and the Warriors trailing 111–94, referee Scott Foster ejected both Draymond Green and Devin Booker after the two exchanged heated words. At that point, the match was already out of the Warriors' reach.
Still, the sideline confrontation -- with Green visibly animated and gesturing toward the Phoenix crowd and Booker -- added an explosive final footnote to Golden State’s season.
Green had played the entire game physically and picked up his sixth foul with 1:06 remaining, just before the blowout ended. The argument between Booker and the other player escalated quickly, and the referees sent both players to the locker room early with double technical fouls.
Their ejection will likely draw league review, though no immediate suspension follows a double technical. Given his disciplinary file, supplemental discipline from the NBA wouldn't be a surprise.
But the bigger question dropped on the table following the game. When a reporter asked Green directly about his future during the post-game presser, he provided a calculated, honest, and notably open-ended answer.
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"I don't know. I'm not retiring from basketball. I still love to play. I think I'm still pretty decent," Green said. "But this league is an interesting one. Everything so for me — I hope I've done enough to still be here. Because at the end of the day, if I ain't done enough, I don't want to be here. I don't ever want [the Warriors] to just keep me around because of what I've done.”
He added, “Like, what can I still do? And by the way, that's not just playing — that's leadership, that's helping bring the young guys along, that's helping move the organization forward. Hopefully I've done enough to still be here. But if not, we'll see what it looks like. It's been a hell of a run."
He closed the answer, saying, “If they want me here, I'll be right here."
The catch is that the decision is more complicated than sentiment. Green, 36, holds a $27.7 million player option for the 2026–27 season. And earlier this month, he told Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard that his preferred path would be to decline that option and sign an extension instead.
That structure would give him long-term security while opening cap room for the Warriors to reshape the roster around Stephen Curry’s final years.
Related: Jaylen Brown Makes Bold Steph Curry Claim After Warriors Game
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Sports”
