"You wanna call anybody an idiot? Look no further than Draymond Green himself!" - 3-time NBA champion on his controversial ejection, compares it to earlier NBA Finals ejection and hopes for rescinding of foul
Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies was marred by the controversial ejection of Draymond Green. Green was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul on Brandon Clarke and automatic removal from the game on Sunday.
Steve Kerr and the entire Warriors’ bench were visibly stunned when, after a long review, the officials deemed Green’s action as unnecessary and excessive.
After the game, which ended 117-116 in Golden State's favor, Green quickly held what he called an “emergency podcast” to give his thoughts on the incident. He said:
"When they reviewed the foul for as long as they reviewed it, I said to myself, 'I wonder what could they be deciding that’s possibly going to take this long.' I’m actually dumb enough to think I wasn’t going to get a Flagrant 1. Talk about an idiot. You wanna call anybody an idiot?
"Look no further than Draymond Green himself!"
Letsss gooooooo!!!! Pod UP!!! 👀👀👀👀 twitter.com/TheVolumeSport…
Green wasn’t expecting the Flagrant 2 foul because according to him:
"Even once he [Brandon Clarke] hit the ground, I was still holding his jersey up."
The following video shows the former Defensive Player of the Year awardee grabbing Clarke’s jersey and easing his fall by firmly holding on to it.
Draymond Green was ejected for this flagrant 2 foul. https://t.co/QPYnODEXt1
Looking back, Green realized one thing:
"At this point, I kind of expect things like that. I’ve been suspended from Game 5 of the NBA Finals, you think for one second I don’t believe I wouldn’t get kicked out of Game 1 of the second round? Not surprising to me at all, not one bit."
The 31-year-old veteran was referring to his infamous suspension in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Some basketball analysts would say that had Green not been suspended, LeBron James’ Cavs might not have come back from a 1-3 deficit to win the title.
Fortunately for the Warriors, they managed to survive Green’s ejection to win Game 1 and steal home-court advantage from the Grizzlies.
Draymond Green believes his suspension was based on reputation and hopes to have the decision reversed
Draymond Green believes that if the referees based their judgment on the play rather than his reputation, they would have reached a different conclusion.
The three-time NBA champ said:
"I sat there and then the official turned. He had a hard time, ‘It was going to be a flagrant.’ Long pause. ‘2!’ He didn’t even wanna say it was gonna be a Flagrant 2, which was very interesting to me.
"I think it’s just a case-by-case thing, a reputation thing. I think tonight it was probably a reputation thing more so than a hard foul."
If the officials, indeed, based their call on his reputation, then it was unfortunate as he could ultimately be suspended via flagrant foul point accumulation.
Draymond gives his thoughts on his ejection: “I think tonight was more of a reputation thing more so than a hard foul.”
(via “The Draymond Green Show,” h/t @_Talkin_NBA)
https://t.co/5pUiEmI06l
The NBA follows a different rule when it comes to the aggregation of flagrant foul points in the playoffs compared to the regular season. Players who exceed three points will be automatically suspended.
Green’s Flagrant foul 2 penalty carries two points already, leaving him in danger of suspension early this postseason.
“My biggest worry moving forward is that it gives me two flagrant foul points, and as we know, I’ve been ejected for accumulation of flagrant foul points. My hope is that the right thing will happen and that it will at least get rescinded to a Flagrant 1.”
The Warriors are only 19-17 in the regular season without Draymond Green and struggled on both ends of the floor without their charismatic leader.
Golden State pulled off a win on the road without Green on Sunday, but they’ll have a much tougher time winning the series without him.