After Draymond Green was ejected from the Warriors' Tuesday game against the Phoenix Suns for swinging at Jusuf Nurkić and striking him across the face, the veteran forward said he was remorseful for his actions and shared his side of the incident.
But ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes someone else should be held accountable, along with Green, for the way things played out inside Footprint Center.
"I understand that Steph Curry is not a vocal leader. I get that," Smith said Thursday morning on "First Take." "But if this were [Los Angeles Lakers superstar] LeBron James, if this were a teammate of LeBron James, we'd be all over LeBron James. 'Where's the leadership? Where's he at? What kind of impact is he having?' I don't think we should be holding Steph Curry to lesser standards.
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"There is a way to lead. You don't have to do it the way somebody else would do it. I saw [former Warriors guard] Jordan Poole walk by Draymond Green last year. You know who I saw following him off the court to the bench? Steph. None of us knew about it, they didn't talk about it in the postgame, but you saw Steph roll up on Jordan Poole and address him and was in his face and was talking to him because he was being disrespectful to Draymond Green during the game.
"You don't have to do it the same way, but Steph Curry and his leadership, yeah, he's required to have some and he's required to display some. And Draymond Green loves that brother and owes a lot to him."
Green was ejected in the third quarter of Golden State's 119-116 loss to Phoenix -- his third ejection of the 2023-24 NBA season. The NBA announced the next day that it had suspended Green indefinitely, saying the Warriors forward's "repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts" factored into the decision.
Golden State Warriors
Green has played in 15 of Golden State's 23 games this season, been suspended from five and missed two because of injury and one for personal reasons. Smith believes Curry needs to be more vocal with Green and express how much the team needs him on the court.
After Green punched Poole before the start of last season, Smith said Green told him that the look on Curry's face was guilt and almost as if the Warriors sharpshooter believed it was his fault because he saw something that "wasn't right" and "should've done more."
As the team's star and respected leader, Curry's voice has a lasting impact on his teammates and even those around the league. And even though Smith would like to see Curry use that voice more when it comes to his teammate, he made it clear he's in no way blaming him for Green's actions.
"Steph is not being blamed," Smith said. "I'm not blaming [Warriors coach] Steve Kerr. But there is no doubt that organizationally, especially when it comes to the coach and star player, that it appears to be that more should have been done. [Former Warriors forward] Andre Iguodala is living proof of that because as acting executive director of the Players Association, who's been in that locker room for years, that dude is standing back like, yeah, I got to flow with this decision, too.
"That tells you all you need to know about what wasn't being done in Golden State."