Tuesday, just before midnight on the East Coast, the NBA league office in New York dropped a surprising news dump: Draymond Green is suspended for Game 3 of the Golden State Warriors' first-round series against the Sacramento Kings. Everything that has come out since has made it look, in a certain light, like a personal, vindictive, David Stern-era throwback punishment.
First, there was specifically crediting the announcement to NBA Executive Vice President Joe Dumars, which had to be a knife twist to Green. Dumars has advised Green dating way back to his high school days in Michigan; when Green was coming out of Michigan State, he said Dumars was “like a father to me.