LOS ANGELES -- Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA for striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face during Tuesday night's game, the league announced Wednesday.
According to the NBA's release, "This outcome takes into account Green's repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts."
Green will be required to meet "certain league and team conditions" before he returns to play, the NBA said.
Green received a flagrant 2 foul for striking Nurkic and was ejected for the third time this season.
The discipline come just about one month after Green's last suspension, which was for five games after for putting Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold.
The league has made it clear that Green's history as a repeat offender continues to play a major role in the severity of the punishments it hands to Green.
After Green was ejected on Tuesday in Phoenix, he told reporters that he didn't mean to strike Nurkic in the head, but was just trying to sell a call. He agreed that the move warranted the Flagrant penalty 2 that he was assessed in the moment, but didn't seem as though it was a big enough deal.
Green echoed this same message to the league throughout the interview process on Wednesday. But it didn't matter. The Warriors have made it very clear to Green that they need him on the floor. That need is greater now than ever, as Golden State sits with a 10-13 record, two of their most important players in Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins continue to struggle, and they are suffering from the same exact issues that plagued them last season.
"We need him. We need Draymond. He knows that," coach Steve Kerr said. "We've talked to him. He's got to find a way to keep his poise and be out there for his teammates."
Green acknowledged Kerr's message, but in his response still didn't account for what he has to do to remain available.
"Like I said, if I intended to do that, then I would feel awful about not being there," Green said. "But my intentions were just to sell the foul."
A source told ESPN last month that the Warriors have lost their leverage with disciplining Green after failing to hold him accountable for punching former teammate Jordan Poole at last year's training camp.
When Green stomped on Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis during the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors defended and stood by him. They did the same after his incident with Gobert in November, though Kerr did say his actions were "inexcusable."
In Phoenix, as Green swung and hit Nurkic in the jaw right in front of the Warriors bench, no one had a strong reaction. Postgame, Kerr dismissed the question regarding the play, saying he hadn't seen it yet.
But now with Green out indefinitely, he will have missed the majority of the Warriors' games this season due to a suspension. Golden State is at an early crossroad in their season, and his absence and repeated behavior is making it that much harder for them to cross it successfully.