Draymond Green and the topic of leadership anger

Draymond Green’s troublesome behavior

On Tuesday night, Golden State Warriors 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 troubling events for 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 crazy to see… I’ve never seen that before on a basketball court in an NBA game. I hope Draymond gets the help he needs. It has been incident after incident.”

When it comes to the topic of leaders and anger, it reminds me of another leader who let his anger get the better of him.

To reiterate my thoughts on the subject of anger, the following is an excerpt from my book Mighty: 7 skills you need to go from pandemic to progress. Even though the industries are different, the words below also apply to the Draymond Green situation.

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Will Smith, Chris Rock and Denzel Washington

One person who learned a lot about themselves and the consequences of their decisions was Will Smith. At the 2022 Oscars, Smith and Chris Rock were part of one of the most awkward, disturbing, infamous and most talked-about moments in television history.

As is tradition at these types of events, Rock roasted much of the audience. This happens annually at the Oscars, Golden Globes, ESPYs, Grammys and other award ceremonies. But Rock’s statement to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, apparently crossed a line

when he said:GI Jane 2I can’t wait to see it.”

Will Smith initially laughed at the joke, but then came on stage and punched Rock in the face. For those who don’t know, Smith’s wife suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Then Smith shouted twice from his front row seat, “Keep my wife’s name out of your message.” [expletive] mouth.” The public was stunned. Twitter exploded. Since then, the issue has been investigated from every possible angle.

I will now give my thoughts. As we write this, we currently live in a lawless country. Will Smith should have been arrested. Period of time. Assault is generally defined as “intentionally placing another person in reasonable fear of imminent harmful or offensive contact.” No physical harm required.” Note that the legal definition says nothing about whether the act was justified or not. Smith’s blow would obviously be classified as offensive contact and would place Rock in reasonable apprehension of damaging contact.

I’m still confused as to why Smith was allowed to return to his seat and less than an hour later win an award, receive a standing ovation and then say, ‘I’m called upon in my life to love people and to protect people. And to be a river for my people.” This action would indicate that Smith’s river is polluted with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

It’s confusing what Smith expected. He was the presumptive winner of Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the film

King Richard. Smith sat in the front row. Once again, comedians with a history of roasting people were often used as the show’s hosts. Traditionally, these events involve “making fun” of the stars. The Smiths should have been satisfied with who they are first and foremost, and the environment they found themselves in second.

But we were also reminded of a basic form of respect and human decency, which is that we should 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 derogatory comments. Degrading someone’s feelings and hurting his or her feelings for the purpose of increasing our self-esteem, entertainment or public status is inadvisable and downright wrong. Maybe this will be the beginning of the end of “roasting” people and the beginning of celebrating them.

What was also clear is that 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 asking 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 I’ll stop with this group of fifteen.

1. “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth to 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 do not give opportunity to the devil” – Ephesians 4:25–27 (NIV).
2. “Know this, my beloved brethren: let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God”—James 1:19–20 (NIV).
3. “A fool opens his mind, but a wise man restrains it” (Proverbs 29:11).
4. “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word provokes wrath” (Proverbs 15:1).
5. “He who is patient has great understanding, but he who is hot-tempered is foolish” —Proverbs 14:29 (NIV).
6. “Fools give full vent to their anger, but the wise bring calm in the end” —Proverbs 29:11 (NIV).
7. “Fools immediately show their offense, but the wise overlook an insult” —Proverbs 12:16 (NIV).
8. “It is an honor for a man to avoid quarreling, but every fool is quick to quarrel” —Proverbs 20:3 (NIV).
9. “A man’s discretion defers his anger; and it is his glory to pass over trespass” – Proverbs 19:11 (NIV).
10. “An angry man stirs up strife, and an angry man abounds in transgression” – Proverbs 29:22 (NIV).
11. “Do not be hasty in spirit to become angry, for wrath rests in the bosom of fools” – Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NIV).
12. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” – Romans 12:21 (NIV).
13. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and wrath, and clamor, and slander, and all malice, be put away from you” – Ephesians 4:31 (NIV).
14. “An angry man stirs up strife; but he who is slow to anger calms strife” – Proverbs 15:18 (NKJV).
15. “Do not befriend an evil man; and with an angry 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, without understanding and discretion, unhinged, furious, hasty, bitter, wrathful, poisonous, violent, and just plain evil. Again: “Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

Anger also makes the other person a victim. I have lost my patience several times. Each time I looked bad and the object of my anger was seen as a victim. Again, it didn’t matter if my anger was justified. I turned the other person into a sympathetic figure when, like Will Smith, I appeared unhinged and without self-control.

Chris Rock took the high road when Smith’s behavior unfortunately overshadowed the defining moment of his acting career. One thing I know for sure is that Smith deeply regrets walking on stage and punching Rock.

Finally, one of the problems in our world today is the lack of statesmen. Statesmen are dignified individuals who are respected and have moral authority. Statesmen are EF Huttons – when they speak, everyone listens. They are above the fray. However, in the midst of this chaos and confusion, a statesman stood on the Hollywood floor and brought a sense of peace and calm to the chaos.

Denzel Washington, a well-known Christian and acting legend, told Smith:

“Be careful at your highest moment. Then the devil will come and get you.” Peter Etenung tweeted: “I refuse to act like Will Smith. I refuse to act like Chris Rock. I’d rather act like Denzel Washington. At a very uncomfortable and heated moment, he provided wisdom, understanding, correction and comfort.” Etenung’s words provide us with the four defining characteristics of statesmen: wisdom, understanding, correction, and comfort. May I add that the statesmen are satisfied.

Everyone who reads this page now faces a choice. Your circumstances do not influence your decisions. You can either be a statesman who rises above the fray, like Denzel Washington, or you can be an angry person who acts foolishly, like Will Smith (or Draymond Green). You decide.

To buy copies of my book Mighty: 7 skills you need to go from pandemic to progressClick HERE.

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