Draymond Green has proven time and again how much of a ferocious competitor he is when the ball is tipped off. Much like a boiling pot of water, though, there are times when Dray’s emotions spill over and cause a mess. One such incident occurred on November 14, 2023, during a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The game had yet to even find its rhythm when tempers flared between the Warriors’ shooting guard, Klay Thompson, and the Wolves’ Jaden McDaniels. Not long after, Rudy Gobert entered the fray and went after Klay, prompting Dray to come to the aid of his teammate by putting the former in a rear-naked chokehold.
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Speaking to Fred VanVleet on the “Unguarded” podcast, the veteran power forward reflected on that incident, saying he did not realize he held on to Gobert for far too long.
Dray says it was a spur of the moment
Draymond has earned a solid reputation for being a modern-day enforcer, someone who wouldn’t hesitate to set a hard screen to get any of his teammates, especially megastar Steph Curry, open. In the same breath, he’s also someone who doesn’t think twice about protecting any of his Warriors comrades, which, in that moment, was Thompson.
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“Look at my man Klay, man. He tried to grab Klay,” Dray recalled. “And you know we already had our thing, our little back and forth. So once he grabbed my man’s jersey, once I saw him going to grab Klay, that was my moment.”
Like a lion prowling its prey on the African savannah, Draymond pounced on Gobert with a ferocity that sent shockwaves through the arena. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision fueled by years of competitiveness and passion for his team.
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“But I’m going to tell you this, though: I did not realize I was choking him that long,” Dray revealed. “I did not realize I had him that long, man. So when I got back to the locker room, I was watching it and I was like, ‘Damn, what they going to say about this s—t tomorrow?’ It’s bad.”
Altercation between Rudy and Draymond just kept on going
When players are in the heat of battle, they seem to lose track of time. And according to Green, that’s exactly what happened during that infamous moment.
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“I didn’t realize I had him that long. I thought it was a quick boom, boom. You know what I’m saying? So I was like, ‘Damn.’ I was watching it and I was like, ‘Alright, it’s about to end.’ And that s—t just kept going, going and going and going. I was like, ‘Oh shit,'” Dray narrated.
“Once I saw how long it was, I just went and sat in the equipment room. I was talking to a couple equipment guys back there. I said, ‘Damn, man, what y’all think going to happen? What y’all think going to happen, man?'” he added. “And they was like, ‘Dray, you held him for so long.'”
Draymond was eventually suspended for 5 games for putting Rudy in a chokehold. However, things continued to go downhill for Dray that season, as not long after he returned from that suspension, he struck Jusuf Nurkic in the head, which led the NBA to hand him an indefinite suspension.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.