Draymond Green Urges Devin Booker to Leave the Suns, Raising Tampering Questions

Green's comments could land him in hot water with the NBA

Draymond Devin Booker
Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns drives the ball past Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors during the second half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on February 12, 2020.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has never shied away from speaking his mind, for better or worse, but his latest speech might land him in some tampering-related hot water. As a guest on TNT’s Inside The NBA, Green was asked about Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns, who have gone undefeated during the NBA bubble.

Green’s answer might get the NBA’s attention, as it continues to crack down on potential tampering:

Green didn’t mince words, saying that while it’s great that Phoenix has been good in Orlando, Booker needs to get out of that team in order to thrive in his career. When asked, immediately, by host Ernie Johnson whether he was tampering or not, Green paused before saying “maybe,” not even pretending that he wasn’t for the sake of avoiding a future fine.

The NBA has taken tampering seriously over the last few years, fining then-Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson $50,000 for positive comments about Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2018. The league also fined Antetokounmpo’s own team after general manager Jon Horst said that the Bucks would offer the star forward a max contract.

Whether the NBA comes after Green or not remains to be seen, though the league did send out an anti-tampering memo to teams after LeBron James made comments about wanting to play with Anthony Davis before the big man had officially joined the Lakers. James was not fined, and since Green did not explicitly say that Booker should play with him in Golden State, perhaps the outspoken do-it-all forward will avoid a fine after all.

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