After an ejection during Sunday’s Game 1 of the Warriors-Grizzlies series, Draymond Green is trying to set the record straight.
In an “emergency” episode of “The Draymond Green Show” live from his hotel room in Memphis, Green discussed the nature of his ejection and why he believes that it was only called because of his long history with ejections.
“I think (Sunday) was a reputation thing more so than a hard foul,” Green said.
The 32-year-old was confused on why he was given a flagrant 2 foul for “I’m not quite sure for what.”
On Sunday, Green was ejected for allegedly pulling Brandon Clarke to the floor by his jersey. The forward claims that he was in fact holding Clarke up by his jersey and in the moment, was prepared to start dancing to mock the Grizzlies since he thought they would be the ones who were penalized. However, knowing his long history of ejections, especially during the postseason, Green stopped himself.
“Because it’s you involved in this play, you probably shouldn’t dance because you probably should always expect the unexpected,” he said.
Green and the rest of the Warriors bench were shocked by the ejection, as they believed it was unjustified.
“If we went through the definition of a flagrant 2 foul, I’m not sure that that play would quite fit the definition of a flagrant foul, I’m not sure if it’ll meet that criteria,” Green said.
However, while Green was not shocked that he was dealt a foul, he was baffled by the fact that this occurred during the playoffs, which should allow for a rougher brand of basketball.
“The playoffs are a little tougher and not as soft as the regular season,” Green said. “You can bump a little more, get away with a little more.”
Despite his disagreement with the call, Green emphasized that he believes that he receives more unnecessary fouls than other players as a result of his reputation. Still he does not regret his actions nor has any plans of changing the way he plays.
“Let me say, reputations are earned — I love my reputation. It’s gotten me where I am, it’s gotten me three NBA championships, it’s gotten me an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, it’s gotten me four All-Stars, it’s made me who I am in the NBA,” Green said.
“Coming from a 35th pick who they said would never play a day in the NBA, here I am in year 10 sitting here in front of you, still playing, and you watch me on the TV screen in your living room, you come to games. So I appreciate my reputation. I’m not one to shy away from it, I know what it is and that reputation is hard to earn.”
Before he was tossed, Green recorded six points and four rebounds with three assists and three steals in the 17 minutes he played. Golden State eked out a thrilling 117-116 win over the Grizzlies; Game 2 will take place Tuesday night.