Joe Rondone-USA TODAY Sports
Steve Kerr Blasts Dillon Brooks: "He Broke The Code"
The status of Gary Payton II is in question after Game 2.
Taking a hard fall in his right arm following an egregious flagrant 2 foul from Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks in the first few minutes of Tuesday’s game, Payton II suffered a fractured elbow and will undergo an MRI Wednesday according to head coach Steve Kerr.
“It's confirmed that he has a fractured elbow,” Kerr said after the game. “The MRI will help determine how long Gary will be out.”
Payton II, who came up huge for the Warriors in Game 1, was primarily tasked with guarding Memphis Star Ja Morant. As the Oregon State product went up for a layup at the 9:08 mark of the first quarter following a Grizzlies turnover, however, he was hit in the face by Brooks and sent tumbling to the floor.
“I don’t know if it was intentional but it was dirty,” Kerr said. “There’s a code that players follow. You never put a guy’s season or career in jeopardy by taking someone out in mid-air and clubbing him across the head and ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow.
“He broke the code,” Kerr continued. “Dillon Brooks broke the code.”
Bad blood had been brewing between the Warriors and Grizzlies after Draymond Green was ejected in Game 1 following a flagrant 2 of his own.
Kerr was quoted before Game 2 stating that he expected things to be chippy and physical heading into the second chapter of this highly anticipated series but it’s clear no one expected things to take the turn that it did just minutes into the matchup.
“Playoff basketball is supposed to be physical,” Kerr said. “Everybody is going to compete and everybody is going to fight for everything but there’s a code in this league… [Payton II] is a guy who’s been twiddling the last six years trying to make it in this league. Finally found a home just playing his butt off this year. In the playoffs playing the time of his life, a guy comes in, whacks him across the head in mid air.”
Clearly a fractured elbow is a serious injury and one that could very well take Payton II out for the remainder of the playoffs. Official word from Golden State regarding that timeline is expected to emerge Wednesday.
