Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green unconditionally apologized for his wrongdoings and vowed to be a "champion for change", after the NBA lifted what turned out to be a 12-game suspension after hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic.
In a nearly hour-long podcast of The Draymond Green Show by The Volume on Monday night, Green acknowledged the effects his actions had on his family.
"I created bad for my family. And for that, I apologize," he said.
On Saturday, the NBA declared Green was reinstated, following a 12-game suspension after striking Nurkic during the game on December 12.
Joe Dumars, executive vice president and head of basketball operations, said Green has engaged in multiple meetings with a counselor and would continue to do so throughout the season.
The outspoken forward immediately addressed that incident at the start of the podcast. He made it a point to do so without any conditions or caveats.
"As I said, I was wrong. I was wrong regardless of what I was trying to do. None of that s*** matters. I was wrong. I accept my fault in that, and I apologize," he said.
Green also spoke of the incident in November, when he Minnesota Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert in a headlock during a scuffle.
"I was wrong, went way too far. I am a guy who plays on the edge. I am a guy who walks right to that line. I have walked over that line, for that I apologize," he said.
Green explained that his mother received death threats after his actions. He also spoke of his two children who go to school in the Bay Area, and how it might have affected them.
"I let the Warriors organization down, I let the NBA down, my family down, myself, my partners," he said.
The forward went on to explain that after he was suspended on December 14, he stayed in his mancave inside the house, listening and watching to what players and personalities were saying about him. It took two days before his three year old daughter pulled him out to play outside.
"I realized I had to move forward that day," Green said.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr also came to visit him.
"He just said to me, 'I want you to end this the right way. I want us to end this the right way.'" Green recounted Kerr saying.
"'You apologized before, but there's always a but. No buts,'" Kerr apparently told Green, prompting him to laugh.
"My wife told me that last night," he told his coach.
"The responsibility is much greater than I realized. So I said that day, the responsibility that's been placed upon me as a father, as a husband, as a podcaster, as a business owner, as a television personality, as a black man in America, I..." Green said, pausing, "I've handled it miserably. Terribly."
"Accepting there's a place for growth"
He particularly spoke of reacting to former teammate Kevin Durant, who spoke in public that Green "hasn't been that way when I was around him and coming into the league" and that he needed help.
The vocal leader for the Warriors admitted that at first, he took it personally.
"This person said that? No way this person said that," he recounted. "It really pissed me off."
But Green shared how he mulled over Durant's statement and his intentions.
"The world thinks I'm still the same Draymond I was in 2017. The reality is I'm not. I haven't allowed anyone to see that growth," he said. "In me cutting that off, I have not allowed myself to be vulnerable when it's okay to be vulnerable."
"He's acknowledging that I want the world to know about me."
Green emphasized how he thought of the word help.
"Maybe you're listening to the word help with the same mindset that the word help meant when you were 15 years old. So maybe you shouldn't hear that so negatively. And maybe he's not saying that as negatively as you're taking it. Even if he was, I made a decision in that moment that I wasn't going to take it that way," he reflected. "That was a very proud moment for me."
Coach Kerr said he was not sure when Green would be ready to play in a game but told reporters that he has taken part in the Warriors' walkthrough and regular shooting routine.
The Warriors will next take on the New Orleans Pelicans on January 11, and the Chicago Bulls on January 13.
