Draymond Green has a track record of getting banned from playoff games at the worst possible times. His infamous Game 5 suspension during the 2016 NBA Finals helped launch Cleveland’s legendary comeback from a 3-1 deficit to win the championship. In the latest incident, Green was ejected from the Golden State Warriors’ Game 1 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The play came at the end of the second quarter. Green was called for a foul when he pulled down Grizzlies big man Brandon Clarke by the jersey. On replay, it was called a flagrant-2 foul as “excessive and unnecessary.” Green initially slapped Clarke with a wind-up before pulling him down.
Following the game, Green called the ejection a “reputation thing” during an episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show.”
“Very interesting one,” Green said. “One thing about that foul is I actually tried to hold him up. Well, I wasn’t told anything cause I left the court, but guys were told I was ejected for throwing him down, which is very interesting because even once he hit the ground I still was holding his jersey.”
Green further explained his case:
“A flagrant 2. I mean — unnecessary contact. I can’t quite say it was unnecessary because I was trying to stop him from making a bucket and getting an and one. So I can’t quite say it was unnecessary. Excessive — I didn’t even really make contact with the guy’s body so excessive would be a bit extreme.
If a guy is flying off of one leg then maybe you say, ‘alright, he was in an unsafe position, he couldn’t protect himself, flagrant 2.’ A guy jumping off two feet straight up and down, who then sells a foul and dives to the floor — can’t quite say he was in an unsafe position.
So I guess me trying to explain this flagrant foul to you, your guess is just as good as mine. By definition, if we go through the definition of a flagrant 2 foul, I’m not sure that play would quite be the definition of a flagrant foul. I’m not sure it would meet that criteria.”
As the officials watched the replay on the video monitor, Grizzlies fans chanted…
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