OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State star Draymond Green was suspended for Monday’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals after the league assessed a Flagrant 1 foul from his scuffle with Cleveland’s LeBron James.

The NBA announced the retroactive decision Sunday, issuing James a technical on the play late in Golden State’s 108-97 victory Friday. A statement announcing the discipline said that Green “made unnecessary contact with a retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin” of James.

James and Green got tangled up on a play, during the closing minutes of the Warrior’s Game 4 victory Friday night.

James stepped over Green as the two got up – a move widely viewed as a show of disrespect in league circles. Green then swiped at James’ groin in retaliation and threw another jab at the four-time MVP that did not connect after some trash talk.

“There’s no way you can say this is an acceptable act,” Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Especially for a player like Green, who has gained a reputation as a chippy player during Golden State’s run through the playoffs. After a foul and fine-filled first three rounds, Green entered the finals one flagrant foul or two technicals short of a mandated suspension.

“History probably didn’t help Draymond,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut said. “When they reviewed it, that’s probably what helped them get to their decision.”

Commissioner Adam Silver said before the start of the rematch with Cleveland that the Competition Committee would in the offseason be reviewing Green’s penchant for wildly flailing his legs on jump shots and rebounds, putting the hard-nosed, emotional leader of the defending champions on notice.

Green was given a Flagrant-2 foul and fined $25,000 for kicking Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams in the groin during the Western Conference finals and picked up a Flagrant-1 for throwing Rockets forward Michael Beasley to the ground in the first round. Green also kicked Cavs guard Kyrie Irving in the chest – inadvertently, Green said – in Game 1 of the finals, which was not penalized by the league.

“You have to do what you think is right for the play,” VanDeWeghe said, “and unfortunately Draymond put himself in this position.”

Golden State leads the series 3-1 and has easily been the better team in this series. But losing a player of Green’s caliber could balance the scales just enough for Cleveland.

Green is a plus-71 in the last two NBA Finals, serving as the heartbeat of the Warriors defense and a critical playmaker on the other end of the court.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr spoke to Green earlier in the postseason about keeping his emotions in check, but they again got the better of him at a crucial time.

“There’s no rhyme or reason to it,” Bogut said. “I’ve been in the same situation. I’ve been suspended before. I think it’s like a lottery decision, like the draft. They just pull out a ping-pong ball and make a decision.”

The after-the-fact technical levied against James isn’t unprecedented. It’s the fourth assessed by the NBA in the last two postseasons.

Last year in the Chicago-Cleveland East semifinals, the Cavs’ Matthew Dellavedova got one. This year, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (in the Thunder-Dallas series) and Miami’s Goran Dragic (in the Heat-Toronto series) also were assessed technicals after league review.

James said Green crossed the line with some of the trash talk he hurled toward the Cavaliers star, and said he felt Green’s swipe at his groin was “a little outside of basketball.”

Green’s teammates stood tall for him, saying James instigated the confrontation when he stepped over Green on the court.

“You don’t let anybody walk over you,” Bogut said. “If someone walks over me, I’m getting up the same way.”