After Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA for striking Jusuf Nurkić in the face during a game, 50 Cent has come to his defense.
"😆This fool is my favorite basketball 🏀 player, WTF Is wrong wit him," wrote 50 Cent on Instagram alongside a video showing the incident that resulted in his suspension. "🤷🏽♂️that was a mistake, I will apologize for him. 🤨come on it’s a physical game."
On Tuesday, Dec. 13, the Golden State Warriors star was ejected (his third in 15 games this season) from the game against the Phoenix Suns and was creditted with a flagrant foul 2 for striking Nurkić across the face. The following day, the NBA indefinitely suspended him. If he is to be considered for a return this season, he will likely have to meet certain requirements with the NBA, similar to how Kyrie Irving did when he was suspended for sharing a link to an anti-Semitic movie last year.
In a post-game conference, Green apologized to Nurkić and said he didn't intend to hit him. "As you know, I'm not one to apologize for things I meant to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn't intend to hit him," he explained. "I sell calls with my arms. I don't fall to sell a call, I'm not a flopper. So I was just selling the call because he was grabbing me and pulling my hip back, so I spun away and unfortunately, I hit him."
The NBA's decision comes not long after the 33-year-old was suspended for five games after he put Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock back in November. Earlier this year, Green faced a one-game suspension for stepping on Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis' chest during the playoffs. As he explained then: "I got to land my foot somewhere."
