Sixers' Doc Rivers says Draymond Green shouldn't have been suspended, defends Joel Embiid

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Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers defended star player Joel Embiid on Friday and said that Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green should not have been suspended with his Sixers up 3-0 in its playoff series.  

Embiid was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul in Philadelphia’s Game 3 win over the Brooklyn Nets after kicking out at Nets center Nic Clacton, who was standing over Embiid and received a technical foul. 

Joel Embiid, #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers, reacts toward referee Nick Buchert, #3, against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 20, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Rivers told reporters on Friday that the NBA needs to do something regarding players trying to goad stars into retaliating. 

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"I'm going to say this, and I probably shouldn't: I didn't think Draymond [Green] should have been suspended," Rivers said Friday, according to ESPN. "And I think the league is setting up a very dangerous precedent right now, and this is not me campaigning, and I'm dead serious. . . . If we're going to start punishing the retaliators, and not the instigators, then we've got a problem in this league."

Green was suspended by the league for Game 3 of Golden State’s series against the Kings after stepping on the chest of Domantas Sabonis in the fourth quarter of Game 2. 

Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, steps over Domantas Sabonis, #10 of the Sacramento Kings, in the second half during Game Two of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Golden 1 Center on April 17, 2023, in Sacramento, California. Green was issued a flagrant foul 2 on the play and was ejected from the game.  (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Green stomped on Sabonis after the Kings’ forward grabbed Green’s leg as he attempted to run back up court. 

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Rivers said that players need to be protected from being targeted by opponents during games.

"I've been a player, and this is a players' league, and I am 100 percent pro-player," Rivers said. "I think players should play in games. We talk all year about fans not being happy about guys not playing, and now we're taking guys out of the playoffs. I don't believe in the past stuff either. They take away all your techs at the end of the season, right? And you start over. Then you should start over with that stuff, too. . . . Draymond Green stepped on a guy's chest because he was holding his foot. The instigator was holding his foot."

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In the NBA Playoffs, once a player accumulates four flagrant foul points, the league hands down an automatic one-game suspension. 

Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts during play against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 20, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.  (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

"If I'm at a park, and I'm going to make this point, and you stood over me? We're going to have a problem. I didn't grow up in the sticks-and-stones era, I grew up in the break-the-bones era, so it's a little different," Rivers said, according to ESPN. "Having said that, these guys know they can do it, because most likely you can't do anything. I'm not picking on Claxton, but I don't think at a park he's standing over Joel. But when you've got the ref and everybody else there, you know nothing is going to happen."

Claxton was later ejected from the game after receiving a technical foul in the fourth quarter for taunting Embiid.