This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There are written rules — and then there are unwritten rules somebody should write.

Like this one: Do not kick an opponent in the acorns. Any player who does kick, grab, hit or punch an opponent in the tenders is subject to his choice of a two-game suspension or a public eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth, onion-for-an-onion retaliation by the affected victim on the court before the tip of the next game.

That might sound a bit brutal, but it would pretty much put an end to any such violations in the future, guaranteed.

What Draymond Green did to Steven Adams in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, nailing him in the nether region, was absolutely bush league. It was nasty. It was barbaric. It was a kick with bad intentions.

Anybody who's ever taken any trauma to the giggleberries knows it's no laughing matter. An honorable competitor would never fire off a free shot at the boys like that. But Green did, and the penalty he was hit with didn't fit the crime.

Like a lot of you, I've watched that play a hundred times, and Green's claim that the kick to the knapsack was unintentional, that he was just flailing around, kicking to draw a foul would win the argument for a blind man. But for anyone with eyes to see, it was clear what Green's intention was, and — great balls afire — it was much more than drawing a foul.

It was the second time in three games that Green had taken aim at Adams' apples. And such nonsense should not be tolerated.

But it was by the NBA.

On Monday, the league issued the following statement:

"After a thorough investigation that included review of all available video angles and interviews with the players involved and the officials working the game, we have determined that Green's foul was unnecessary and excessive and warranted [an] upgrade and fine. During a game, players — at times — flail their legs in an attempt to draw a foul, but Green's actions in this case warranted an additional penalty."

They sure did.

But the penalty was merely that upgrade to a Flagrant-2 and Green was fined $25,000, pocket change for him, with no suspension at all.

Whoever came up with that punishment never has been blasted in the package.

Nobody wanted, under normal circumstances, to see the conference finals, especially featuring two great teams such as the Warriors and the rising Thunder, altered with the suspension of a substantial player like Green. But it was Green who perpetrated the act. So, what are you going to do?

The NBA chose to go soft on Green with a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about a thorough investigation and players flailing their legs. Watch the replay again: That kick had nothing but pain splashed all over it.

Precedents had been set in the past — even the recent past — where players had gone after an opponent's beans, and been hit with a suspension for doing so. Green was more than lucky that he was not suspended, he was purposely granted a pass by the powers that be as to not hugely hamper the defending champs' chances in this series. The circumstances altered his punishment.

It was a punk move on his part, and the more people like Steve Kerr tried to justify it or excuse it, the more foolish they looked. And Kerr knew it. He just wanted to preserve his chance at victory in Game 4.

In the name of preserving what really needs preserving, and protecting what is precious as any and all earthly jewels, then, the family's should be protected most of all. Let the unwritten rule be written:

Do not kick an opponent in the yams. Anybody who does gets … well, an onion for an onion.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.