Draymond Green’s Troublesome Behavior
On Tuesday evening Golden State Warriors long-term veteran Draymon Green was ejected from the team’s game against the Phoenix Suns for punching Jusuf Nurkic. The video is shown below:
This is the latest in a series of troublesome events from Green who has been suspended indefinitely.
It has reached the point where Nurkic said in the following postgame interview, “What’s going on with him, I don’t know. Personally I feel like that brother needs help.” Kevin Durant added, “That was insane to see… Never seen that before on a basketball court in a NBA game. I hope Draymond gets the help that he needs. It’s been incident after incident.”
When it comes to the subject of leaders and anger, it reminds me of another leader who let his anger get the best of him.
To revisit my thoughts on the subject of anger, the following is an excerpt from my book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress. Even though the industries are different, the words below apply to the Draymond Green situation as well.
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Will Smith, Chris Rock, and Denzel Washington
Someone who learned quite a bit about himself and the consequences of their decisions was Will Smith. During the 2022 Oscars ceremony, Smith and Chris Rock were part of one of the most uncomfortable, disturbing, infamous, and most talked-about moments ever witnessed in television history.
As is the tradition in these type of events, Rock was roasting many of the members of the audience. This happens annually at the Oscars, Golden Globes, ESPYs, Grammys, and other awards shows. But Rock’s statement to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, apparently crossed a line
when he said, “G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”
Will Smith initially laughed at the joke but then came on stage and slapped Rock in the face. For those who do not know, Smith’s wife suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune condition causing hair loss. Afterward, from his seat in the first row, Smith twice shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.” The audience was stunned. Twitter exploded. The issue has since been examined from every possible angle.
I will now give my thoughts. At the time of this writing, we currently live in a lawless land. Will Smith should have been arrested. Period. Assault is generally defined as “intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact. Physical injury is not required.” Notice the legal definition does not state anything about whether the act was justified or not. Smith’s slap obviously would classify as offensive contact and put Rock in a reasonable apprehension of harmful contact.
I am still confused as to why Smith was allowed to return to his seat and less than an hour later, win an award, get a standing ovation, and then say, “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people. And to be a river to my people.” This action would indicate Smith’s river is polluted with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
It is confusing as to what Smith was expecting. He was the presumptive winner of Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the film
King Richard. Smith was seated in the front row. Once again, comedians with a history of roasting people were often employed to be the show’s hosts. Traditionally, “poking fun” at the stars is what happens at these events. The Smiths should have been content in first, who they are, and second, the environment in which they were in.
But we were also reminded of a basic form of respect and human decency which is to never have fun at someone else’s expense. Dignity is the imprint of God on every human soul. “I was just kidding” is never an excuse for degrading comments. Degrading a person and hurting their feelings for the purposes of increasing our own self-worth, entertainment, or public standing is unadvisable and just plain wrong. Maybe this will be the beginning of the ending of “roasting” people and the start of celebrating them instead.
What was also evident is angry people become foolish people. The only difference between anger and danger is a “D.” Since Smith inserted God into his acceptance speech by saying, “I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world,” allow me to share with you what God actually says about angry people. I could have listed dozens and dozens more verses but will stop with this group of fifteen.
- “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” —Ephesians 4:25–27 (ESV).
- “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” —James 1:19–20 (ESV).
- “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back” —Proverbs 29:11 (ESV).
- “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” —Proverbs 15:1 (NIV).
- “Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly” —Proverbs 14:29 (NIV).
- “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end” —Proverbs 29:11 (NIV).
- “Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult” —Proverbs 12:16 (NIV).
- “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” —Proverbs 20:3 (NIV).
- “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” —Proverbs 19:11 (KJV).
- “An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression” —Proverbs 29:22 (KJV).
- “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” —Ecclesiastes 7:9 (KJV).
- “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” —Romans 12:21 (KJV).
- “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” —Ephesians 4:31 (KJV).
- “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” —Proverbs 15:18 (KJV).
- “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go” —Proverbs 22:24 (KJV).
From a biblical perspective derived from the previous verses, Smith’s actions were dangerous, devilish, unrighteous, foolish, unwise, harsh, lacking understanding and discretion, unhinged, furious, hasty, bitter, wrathful, toxic, violent, and just evil. Once again, “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
Anger also makes the other person the victim. I have lost my temper on multiple occasions. Each time, I ended up looking bad, and the object of my anger was viewed as a victim. Once again, it did not matter if my anger was justified. I made the other person the sympathetic figure as I came across unhinged and lacking self-control, much like Will Smith.
Chris Rock took the high road as Smith’s behavior sadly overshadowed the defining moment of his acting career. One thing I am sure of is, Smith deeply regrets walking on the stage and slapping Rock.
Finally, one of the problems in our world today is the lack of statesmen. Statesmen are dignified individuals who are respected and have morale authority. Statesmen are E.F. Huttons—when they speak everyone listens. They are above the fray. However, in the midst of this chaos and confusion, a statesman stood up on the Hollywood floor and brought a sense of peace and calm to all the chaos.
Denzel Washington, noted Christian and acting legend, told Smith,
“At your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.” Peter Etenung tweeted, “I refuse to behave like Will Smith. I refuse to behave like Chris Rock. I prefer to behave like Denzel Washington. In a very uncomfortable and heated moment, he gave wisdom, understanding, correction and comfort.” Etenung’s words provide for us the four defining characteristics of Statesmen—wisdom, understanding, correction, and comfort. May I also add statesmen are content.
Everyone reading this page is now faced with a choice. Your circumstances do not affect your decisions. You can either be a statesman who rises above the fray like Denzel Washington, or you can be angry person who acts foolishly like Will Smith (or Draymond Green). You decide.
To purchase copies of my book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress, click HERE.
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