Draymond Green reveals Boston Celtics fans called him the 'n word' during last NBA Finals: "I really want to grab one of these people and wring their neck"
Boston Celtics fans made sure Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green knew he was their biggest villain during the 2023 NBA Finals. TD Garden erupted in boos and not-so-wholesome chants almost every time the former Defensive Player of the Year winner touched the ball.
In the first episode of “Unfiltered with Complex Sports” Green opened up to Pierce Simpson about his experience facing Boston’s raucous and rowdy crowd:
“I was rattled. You hear boos, and I mean I’ve heard people screaming and yelling at me everywhere that I go. But I’ve never heard an entire gym, every time I touched the ball or I don’t have the ball, an entire gym [screaming] ‘F**k you Draymond.’ I thought that was cool, actually.
“But when I’m running down the court and it’s ‘b***h,’ it’s the n-word, those are insults at my character. Those are insults to me as a man. So you’re in this place where it’s like, ‘I really want to grab one of these people and wring their neck,’ but I’m going to lose that battle.”
Draymond Green opens up about Celtics fans calling him the "N-Word" during the NBA Finals. #ComplexSportsUnfiltered https://t.co/vSnQmevSKV
After the Golden State Warriors lost Game 1 at home, Draymond Green vowed to be more physical and disruptive in Game 2. He did exactly as he promised, which frustrated the Boston Celtics and pissed off their legions of fans.
Game 3 at Boston’s TD Garden was a spectacle because the Celtics hadn’t hosted an NBA Finals home game since 2010. The atmosphere was also electric, partly because the fans badly wanted to engage Draymond Green in almost any way possible.
After Game 3, Green, Klay Thompson, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr ripped the Boston Celtics crowd for their “classy” attitude. Hazel Renee, Green’s wife, lambasted the Celtics and their fans via an Instagram story for their obscene chants.
The Warriors lost Game 3 partly because Draymond Green was terrible. He had only two points, four rebounds and three assists in close to 35 minutes of game time. Steve Kerr’s team was outscored by 13 points when Green was on the floor.
Game 4 was even louder than Game 3 as the Boston Celtics looked to grab a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. Draymond Green was again awful until the last few minutes of the game. The obscene chants only got louder and nastier.
Green later admitted that had it not been for Steph Curry’s all-time great performance in Game 4, he would have been destroyed.
Steph Curry saved Draymond Green’s blushes
Heading into Game 4, Draymond Green was having the worst series of his career and probably the worst three games of his pro basketball life. He had as many points (15) as fouls and hardly looked like the charismatic leader of the Golden State Warriors.
Steph Curry, however, refused to let his team and his old friend down in Game 4 against the Celtics. While Green hardly engaged the crowd, it was the usually calm and quiet Curry who talked back to Boston’s rowdy fans.
Curry dropped 43 points against the Boston Celtics to stun the home crowd into silence. Green emerged triumphantly after that. His game improved and when the Warriors closed out the series in Game 6 at TD Garden, Green was back to his old, boisterous self.