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Two things can be true at once. Yes, Draymond Green did a dumb thing by stepping (he didn't stomp; let's settle down with the act of war stuff) on Domantas Sabonis' chest. It doesn't matter that Sabonis wrapped up Draymond's leg first. Given Green's past and the reputation that precedes him, he is not going to get the benefit of the doubt. He has lost the right to lose his cool. He's one of the smartest basketball players in the world. He understands this. It's his fault he's not playing in Game 3. This is true. 

It is also true that the league has completely overreacted to this incident by suspending Green. This is not the time to be righting old wrongs. This is the playoffs. You don't potentially dictate the outcomes of series by removing players from the court unless it is absolutely necessary. This does not qualify as that. 

While we're at this, it was equally unnecessary and overreactive that the league suspended Draymond for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Everyone knew Draymond was one flagrant foul from the suspension limit in that postseason, including Green. It was dumb of him to try to sneak that shot into LeBron's groin, but we're talking about a flailing arm in response to a guy obviously trying to antagonize Green. 

The game, in that situation, was effectively over. That should factor into an officials' whistle when you're messing with championship competition. Players are expected to adjust their decision making based on situation, and the same should be true of officials and suits sitting behind desks. 

Maybe the Cavs still would've come back from 3-1 down. We'll never know. And that's a shame. The players are supposed to decide this stuff on the court. That is what the fans pay for. Not for a little-league lesson in sportsmanship. 

So Green is a hothead. So what? The NBA is an entertainment product. Villains are good for business. Do you think for one second that Dillon Brooks running his mouth at LeBron James isn't adding intrigue to that Lakers-Grizzlies series? These are highly competitive people in highly competitive environments. You have to allow a little bit of leeway for emotions to spill over, not just for the good guys, but for the bad guys, too. 

Again, the emphasis here is on a little bit. I'm not suggesting we allow anarchy to take hold here. Nobody, least of all the league office, wants another Malice at the Palace. But don't get suckered into confusing an emotional, hotly contested series with one that's out of control and needs to be reined in. Nothing about this Warriors-Kings series needed to be reined in. Competition like this is currency. 

See, the league thinks it is punishing Green and the Warriors, and it is. But I'll reiterate: it's also punishing the fans, and that's the real loss here. These fans are no doubt paying ludicrous sums of money to attend Game 3 in San Francisco, just as they pay ludicrous sums all season for tickets and parking and hot dogs and cable packages, and they deserve their money's worth -- particularly from a league that already has a hard enough time getting star players to actually play throughout the regular season. The league should be in the business of keeping its best players on the floor. Not taking them off. 

All of this, in the end, is about erring on one side or the other. This was a 50-50 call whether to suspend Green. The league didn't have to do it. It admitted as much when it said his reputation factored into the ruling, which is another way of saying the act itself wasn't worthy of a suspension. Again, this is not the time to start righting old wrongs. 

Draymond didn't haul off and hit anyone in the face (he saves that for his own teammates). Just as Green, in an emotional moment, has to err on the side of keeping his cool, the league has to err on the side of not interfering with the outcomes of games and/or playoff series if it is at all avoidable. This was avoidable. Slap the guy with a technical foul and keep it moving. Same as they did for Sabonis. This is the NBA playoffs. It's not finishing school. Don't ask athletes to juice their competitive wires to the point of sparking only to throw water over every little fire that starts. It's not fair to the players, and most of all, it's not fair to the fans, who in the end are always the ones that end up paying the NBA's price.