Draymond Green says he doesn't regret incident with Rudy Gobert - ESPN

SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green doesn't regret the actions that landed him a five-game suspension. Putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock on Nov. 14 was in pure defense of his Golden State Warriors teammate Klay Thompson, Green said Sunday.

«I don't live my life with regrets,» Green said after practice, the first time he has spoken to reporters since his suspension. «I'll come to a teammate's defense any time that I'm in a position to come to a teammate's defense.… What matters to me is how the people that I care about feel, first and foremost. How are the people that I care about affected? How are the people I care about, what do they have to deal with? That's it for me.»

Just 100 seconds into the Nov. 14 game, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Thompson got tied up with each other in transition, as Thompson held McDaniels' jersey while he waited for a long rebound. They refused to let go and began to swing each other around and push, resulting in McDaniels ripping Thompson's jersey and Thompson swinging his arm at McDaniels.

As other players rushed toward the two, Gobert wrapped his arms around Thompson to pull him off McDaniels, which is when Green put Gobert in a headlock and pulled him backward for several seconds.

Green and Gobert share a rich, petty history. But Green would not say Sunday whether their past interactions played a role in his actions that night.

«Things can be interpreted how people want to interpret them,» he said. «I'm not here to judge people's interpretations or try to change them. They are what they are. I know that for me, I am always going to be there for my teammates. That's who I am. That's who I am as a teammate, that's who I am as a friend.… Right, wrong or