• Programming note: Warriors fans can watch complete Game 3 coverage Thursday on NBC Sports Bay Area, NBCSportsBayArea.com and the NBC Sports app. “Warriors Pregame Live” starts at 6 p.m., followed by Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike on the game broadcast at 7, with “Warriors Postgame Live” and then “Dubs Talk Live” immediately after the game.

SAN FRANCISCO – Watching and rewatching the video of the three-second dustup between Draymond Green and Domantas Sabonis in Game 2 of the Warriors-Kings playoff series keeps leading to the same two questions:

What would have been the acceptable way for Green to break free from the grip of the larger Sabonis?

And where was the appropriate place for Green’s right Foot to land once freed?

If I’m Draymond, those are my first questions to Joe Dumars and his fellow NBA decision-makers who late Tuesday night decided to suspend Green for Game 3 on Thursday.

Those questions and many others probably made it to the ears of Dumars, a longtime friend of Draymond who happens to be the executive vice president and chief of the league’s basketball operations.

Neither general manager Bob Myers, who spoke directly to Dumars late Tuesday night, nor coach Steve Kerr were willing to provide details about the conversations they had with Green or anyone from the NBA.

It was resoundingly clear that Myers was disappointed, and that both Kevon Looney and Kerr have questions.

“I was a little surprised,” Looney said Wednesday after practice.

“I was extremely surprised,” Kerr said. “And then, immediately into, ‘All right, what’s next? How do we win the game?’”

Kerr had to move on quickly because this was the team’s only practice before Game 3. Every minute lost is an invitation for defeat.

But “extremely surprised” by the suspension is a euphemism for utterly dumbfounded. The suspicion here is that Kerr didn’t care to elaborate because he risked sounding whiny and being slapped with a fine.

Kerr’s viewpoint, however, is popular in and around the league. For obvious, and valid, reasons.

The first is that the NBA clearly punished Draymond not only for his actions on Monday but also previous actions for which he already has been punished.

“The suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” read a line in the official statement.

In short, nail Draymond for his behavior on Monday and for his behavior on the previous times we’ve nailed him. This rubbed Myers the wrong way.

“He knows he’s not perfect,” Myers said of Green. “His mistakes are out there for the world. Every mistake he makes is blasted everywhere. That’s the price of being in the public. That’s what comes with being him. Each time he has mis-stepped, my hope is that he learns from it and becomes better.

“But, again, he has been punished. For people to go, ‘Well, when’s it going to stop?’ Maybe those people might think this (punishment) is a positive.”

There is another factor here that was mentioned but seemed inadequately considered by the league: Sabonis was the instigator.

Insofar as Draymond’s act was retaliatory, a fine would not have been surprising and, likely, was what most expected. The NBA, however, decided that Draymond, by literally stomping himself free of Sabonis, was impolite in attempting to escape and join his teammates in transition.

“My leg got grabbed,” Green said Monday night, an hour after the incident. “Second time in two nights. Referees just watch it. I’ve got to land my foot somewhere. And I’m not the most flexible person, so it’s not stretching that far.”

Green extended his arm, implying that his leg could not have achieved the 90-degree angle the NBA suggests should have been used as the getaway move. Rather, he used Sacramento’s 7-foot, 250-pound center as a stair off which to launch his attempt to flee.

And, yes, that foot released some frustration, which, under the circumstances, hardly can be considered unusual.

Watching the incident from the time Malik Monk invaded the paint to release a floater, Sabonis went beyond the usual “physical” activity. His first move was grabbing the back of Klay Thompson’s jersey and tossing him aside. Thompson stumbled but did not fall. Sabonis fell, landing on Green’s right ankle and then, as Green tried to move, grabbing it. When Green lifted his foot to escape, his first step was directly on Sabonis’ lower rib cage.

If Draymond tries to step back, he likely falls backward.

If he tries to step forward, he likely risks a groin injury.

RELATED: Warriors’ tolerance for Draymond’s emotions is diminishing

Either way, the quickest and safest – for him – the route was to drop his foot on the guy who had been trying to tackle him.

“As far as how we felt, we’ve been here before and we’ve got to play a game tomorrow night,” Myers said. “Once these decisions are made, there’s no appellate court. It’s over. You can react however you want to react, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s not playing.”

It’s commonly believed by basketball fans and even players and coaches that the NBA’s discipline process is subjective. Draymond is, in this case, Exhibit A.

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