Draymond Green officially out for Warriors-Kings game

The Sacramento Kings fans will be ready to boo Draymond Green when they host the Golden State Warriors Friday night, but they’ll have to do it with Green in street clothes.

Green suffered an ankle injury in late September, only returning to five-on-five play this week. That’s not enough practice for Coach Steve Kerr, who announced Thursday that Green would miss the team’s second game, a playoff rematch at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The good news is that Green’s ankle appears to have healed nicely. The bad news is that his conditioning still isn’t back yet.

The news might disappoint Kings fans, after Green made himself Public Enemy No. 1 in the state capital last April, after Domantas Sabonis grabbed Green’s ankle and he stomped the big man’s chest in retaliation. Green was suspended for a game in the Warriors-Kings first-round series, which Golden State escaped in seven games. He was roundly booed at all the games, while Green openly provoked the fans right back.

(For the record, Public Enemy No. 2 is former referee Tim Donaghy, Public Enemy No. 3 is former mayor Kevin Johnson, and Public Enemy No. 3 is whoever invented the “spinnocoli” pie at Zelda’s Pizza.)

That means the Warriors will likely use their ultra-small starting lineup again Friday night, with Chris Paul joining Steph Curry in the backcourt and Klay Thompson at forward alongside Andrew Wiggins. The Kings don’t present quite as much of a size disadvantage as the Suns did Wednesday night, as Sabonis is one of the league’s smaller centers. Still, don’t be surprised if Jonathan Kuminga gets a start at power forward.

Kerr and the Warriors “hope” Green will be available Sunday when the team travels to Houston, and/or on Monday when the team plays the Pelicans in New Orleans.

Coming back to face Zion Williamson is no joke, but Draymond will certainly relish the opportunity. Until then, at least he’ll have some extra time to devote to his podcast.